FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1995 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 TWENTY-NINE FEDERAL OBSERVERS TO MONITOR TUESDAY'S SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS IN TWO NEW MEXICO COUNTIES WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Twenty-nine federal observers will monitor tomorrow's school board elections in Sandoval and Socorro Counties, New Mexico, to ensure compliance with the counties' agreements to provide language assistance to their Navajo and Pueblo populations, the Department of Justice announced today. In 1990, the Justice Department sued Sandoval County for failing to provide voting information in the languages of its Pueblo and Navajo populations. In 1993, it also sued Socorro County for not offering language assistance to its Navajo population. Both counties entered into agreements which required them to provide interpreters and other language-assistance to comply with the Voting Rights Act. These languages are unwritten and all election information must be translated and given orally. "This monitoring will ensure that the Navajo and Pueblo populations of these counties will have a full opportunity to exercise their right to vote," said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick. The Justice Department will dispatch twenty-six observers to Sandoval County, where Native Americans comprise over 19 percent of the population. Three observers will be sent to Socorro County, where Navajo citizens comprise more than 10 percent of the population. The observers, recruited by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), will watch and record activities during voting hours at polling locations. Three attorneys from the Civil Rights Division will coordinate federal activities. Voters with complaints can call (505) 892-5193. # # # 95-069