Language access: Messages for new citizens and LEP voters

Messages you can use in outreach to new citizens and language communities 

What do new citizens need to hear in the outreach you prepare for elections?  These messages are derived directly from interviews we conducted with new citizens.  

Ours are just examples. When you connect with cultural and heritage organizations, you’ll hear more stories that will inspire you to write your own messages. 

Test the messages you plan to use before you put them out there by getting feedback from new citizens or those who work with folks with low English proficiency and low civics literacy.   Translate the messages to languages that will serve the most voters in your jurisdiction.  Use both the English versions and the translated versions. This will help voters learn English.

We have also developed a communications plan template that you can use as a starting point. All the messages in this list are included in the communications plan. 

 

Welcome new citizens to their community through voting

Many new citizens struggle to find community after they become citizens. 

What you might say:

• Meet your neighbors and friends at the polling place!
• Home is where your vote is.
• Polling places are like temporary community centers.  When you go to yours, you’ll meet friends and neighbors.  

In some cultures, participating in community simply means donating money for a cause.

What you might say:

• Voting is a way of giving back to the community. 
• Voting = community.

Local elections might seem irrelevant because most news is about state or federal elections.

What you might say:

• The place where you can affect change is your local town or city.
• You live at the local level, vote at the local level.
• All change is local! Vote in local elections. 

Some people become citizens specifically because they want to have a voice in political and civic life.

What you might say:

• Your vote can represent others in the community who aren’t able to vote.
• When you vote, you give voice to your community. 

 

Invite new citizens into the voting process

Even after someone becomes a citizen they can still be afraid of expressing political opinions.  

Helping them understand the importance of voting as a political expression is important. 

What you might say:

• You don’t have to participate in a protest to have your voice heard.

Some people come from places where wealthy politicians control everything. 

If they weren’t affluent, they aren’t used to being included. They come believing that elected officials are corrupt. 

What you might say:

• Decisions get made by the people who show up to vote.
• Your voice and your vote matter.
• Look out for the health of your country!
• If you don’t vote, people like you won’t get elected.

Voting in America is complicated.

We often hear from people that voting feels like a test. There’s a lot to learn about the system of government, as well as what is on the ballot on and who is running for office. 

What you might say:

• You passed the civics test to become a citizen.  Voting is easy by comparison!
• Becoming a citizen was the hard part, but voting is easy.  

Some new citizens had higher hopes for the American democratic system.  

They need to know how they can feel represented in the decisions that are being made. 

What you might say:

• If you don’t see someone who represents you politically, you have the opportunity to be that person.
• People in your community are making decisions for you by voting. If you don’t want that to happen, get out and vote.

Becoming a citizen is an exciting experience, and people want to feel you’re excited to have them vote. 

Inviting them to take part is a good way to help them celebrate.

What you might say:

• Be part of something bigger, use your voice, use your vote.

 

Ease misconceptions and reset expectations 

New citizens with disabilities often come from places where they weren’t able to vote because there wasn’t assistive technology in their home countries.

What you might say:

• People with disabilities can vote!  And, it’s your right to bring someone to help you.
• Need assistance to vote? Bring someone you trust with you. 
• Need assistance to vote? We can help. Just ask.

Other experiences with government influence expectations for voting.

Past experiences with government officials might have been unpleasant, and some new citizens may feel threatened by voting even though they’ve been naturalized.

What you might say:

• Voting places are safe places.
• Voting is not going to get you in trouble.

New citizens probably don’t know you exist and that you have in-language resources for them.

New Citizens have a hard time finding resources in general.  They may not know there are voter guides and other resources that can make voting easier.

What you might say:

• There are resources to help you prepare to vote in your language.
• Keep your voter registration up to date!  If you move, you have to update your voter registration.  

New citizens expect elections and voting to be as dangerous or as safe as they were in the country they came from. 

People who come from countries in which electoral systems are corrupt sometimes don’t see the point in participating in elections.  They are fearful of what roadblocks or bribes may be involved.  

What you might say:

• Your ballot is secret, keep it that way.
• No one but you knows who you’re voting for.
• Your vote is your vote and no one can take it from you.
• Don’t let anyone interfere with your vote.
• If someone offers to pay you to vote for you, say No. You own your vote.
• Here’s who to contact if you think your right to vote has been infringed.

 

Other outreach ideas 

While messages were important, they are singular points of contact.  Some of the data that came from the interviews suggested longer-term engagements that would impact more than one experience for a new citizen.  The following outreach ideas require more time and resources, but can create larger scale change.  

People integrate more easily when they have someone to show them the way.

How do you find a dentist or a doctor or a babysitter? You ask other people for recommendations. 

Some of the stories we heard about the most successful integration of new citizens occurred when they had a trusted family member or friend that could help them become more engaged in civic life. But not everyone has access to a support network.

What might help: Start a democracy mentor program.  These mentors could share a home country, a language, or anything else.  You as the election administrator wouldn’t even have to run it. Local service organizations like Rotary Clubs, United Ways, or even the cultural and heritage organizations you meet would likely agree to partner on the project.  New citizens could be paired with a trusted mentor who’s voted before and knows how the system works. They could help share where resources exist, how to read a voter guide, help make a plan for getting a ballot and casting it, and even go with the new citizen to vote (separately).  

There is a gap between the citizenship test and operating in civic life.  

Studying for the civics test that you take during a naturalization interview is stressful. There are 100 questions that the interviewer can choose your 10 from, and you don’t know ahead of time which questions they will be. The questions are pretty high level history and government questions. They don’t cover anything about how to operate the power, political, and process systems that make up the levels and kinds of government that people need to interact with to be American, not just a citizen. 

What might help: Democracy Finishing School.  Becoming a citizen unlocks countless opportunities to become engaged in civic life. But many new citizens don’t know where to start. The citizenship test doesn’t come close to filling this gap. Many people immigrate to the U.S. as adults, so they miss any civics education or other acculturation that would expose them to what to do and when to do it.

Imagine a learning experience for new citizens that helps them learn how government works at every level, along with the benefits of participating in governing their local, state, and federal government. Some of the topics could include:

• How local offices work and why they’re important
• What it means to be affiliated with a political party
• What offices appear on a ballot
• How to interpret and understand a proposition
• How to research information (and where not to look)
• Different types of elections, like primaries or presidential
• How your voter data is used — what is public, what is shared, and what is not.

Information on these topics would help most natural-born Americans, as well. 

People assume that U.S. elections and voting work like they do in their home country.

Many participants were surprised about how the U.S. elections system worked. Some would have to overcome skepticism around voting that came from their home country.  This goes beyond mechanics and stretches into what is okay and what isn’t. For example, it’s common (even if it isn’t legal) in some other countries to have someone cast your ballot for you. 

What might help: Compare and contrast voting in another country and the US. As an election official, you have the unique opportunity to set expectations for new citizens before they engage with U.S. elections. Meeting them where they are is a good place to start, and for some that may be their home country.  A video, a series of messages, or even a simple table could help communicate how voting in the US will be different than how new citizens have voted in the past. Here’s a simple example: