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You Have the Right to Help in the Voting Booth

Source
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Shared by
Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC)

Credit: This page brings together two resources by Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC: their one-page flyer “You have the right to assistance in the voting booth” and the Maine page of their report The Right to Assistance of Your Choice at the Polls (Jeanette Lee, Terry Ao Minnis and Carl Hum, October 29, 2014). All credit for this information belongs to them. The originals are linked below.

Read this in your language: use the language menu at the top of the page. Translations are by Google Translate and may be imperfect. Advancing Justice | AAJC also publishes its own translated fact sheets in 15 languages (linked below).

Original flyer (PDF) Full report (PDF) Translated fact sheets Resource Hub

Your Right to Bring Someone to Help You Vote

From the Advancing Justice | AAJC flyer

I’m not comfortable voting by myself. Can I bring someone with me into the voting booth to help me vote?

Yes. You have the right to bring someone into the voting booth to help you. This person can be a friend, relative, or someone else you trust. It only cannot be your boss or a representative of your labor union.

Did you know? You can bring a family member, a neighbor — nearly anyone you trust in your community — to help you cast your vote.

What law gives me this right?

Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) gives every voter the right to bring someone of their choice into the voting booth if they need help voting.

How do I know if I can benefit from this law?

If your native language is not English and you have difficulty understanding English, you can use this law. You can also use this law if you are blind or do not see well, have a disability, or have trouble reading or writing.

What do I need to do on Election Day to have someone help me to vote?

Take the person who will help you to the voting place. Tell the election officials that you have chosen this person to help you with voting. You may be required to complete and sign a form that says you have difficulty speaking, reading, writing or understanding English and have asked this person to help you. The person helping you may also be required to sign a form swearing that they did not tell you how to vote.

What should I do if they do not allow me to bring someone with me into the voting booth?

Some election officials do not know about Section 208 of the VRA. If you bring someone to help you and an election official does not let them help you, show the election official this page. If the election official still does not let that person help you vote, talk to the highest-ranking official at the polling place or call the hotline: 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683).

1-888-API-VOTE: call for in-language help on Election Day. Advancing Justice | AAJC and APIA Vote run this hotline, with help in several Asian languages.

The Federal Law: Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act

Adapted from the Advancing Justice | AAJC report

“Any voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the voter’s choice, other than the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter’s union.”

52 U.S.C. § 10508 (Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act)

Section 208 applies nationwide, including in Maine. According to Advancing Justice | AAJC, all citizens who have difficulty with English, no matter where they live or what their native language is, have the right to an assistor of their choice in the voting booth.

Section 208 sets only two limits:

  • the person helping must be someone the voter chooses, and
  • that person cannot be the voter’s employer (or someone acting for the employer), or an officer or agent of the voter’s union.

The person helping can even be a teenage child or someone who is not a U.S. citizen. It is a violation of the Voting Rights Act if election officials block or deny a voter’s right to use an assistor of their choice. The U.S. Department of Justice enforces this law.

Maine Law: 21-A M.R.S. § 672

From the Advancing Justice | AAJC report, Appendix A (Maine)

“A voter who is unable to read or mark the ballot because of physical disability, illiteracy or religious faith may request another person, other than the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter’s union, to assist the voter in reading the ballot or marking the ballot according to the voter’s wishes. When assisting a voter, the aide may not tell the voter how to make the voter’s choices or otherwise influence the voter in violation of section 682.

1. Assistance by election officials. The voter may request one or more election officials to assist.

2. Assistance by persons not voters. The assistant need not be a voter or of voting age.”

Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, § 672: Assistance. Current text from the Maine Legislature.

What this means in Maine:

  • You can ask someone you choose to help you read or mark your ballot.
  • The person helping you does not have to be a registered voter, and does not have to be 18 or older.
  • You can also ask one or more election officials at the polling place to help you instead.
  • The person helping cannot be your employer (or someone acting for your employer), or an officer or agent of your union.
  • The person helping must mark the ballot the way you want. They cannot tell you how to vote or try to influence your choices (21-A M.R.S. § 682).

Maine’s law does not mention English specifically. Federal Section 208, which applies in every state, protects voters who have difficulty reading or understanding English.

Get Help

This page is information, not legal advice. Laws change. Check the original sources linked here, or ask an attorney about your situation.

Sources