Chicago’s 12-language ballots make elections ‘harder to monitor,’ Illinois GOP chair warns

Chicago offers ballots in 12 languages, and Illinois Republican Party chairman Bob Grogan says the range makes elections harder for party observers and judges to monitor. He questions whether some translations are needed and argues that observers may struggle to check ballots they cannot read.

The Chicago Board of Elections says federal law requires materials in Spanish, Chinese and Hindi in certain precincts, while other languages are included to match Cook County’s provision and give voters equal opportunities. In the March primary, nine ballots used Gujarati, 15 Urdu, 10 Arabic, and 25 each Russian and Ukrainian; Polish and Chinese ballots numbered 4,474 and 2,183 respectively. For November’s general election, the Board said 810 of its 7,218 assigned judges were multilingual, and that voters may bring an interpreter under certain conditions.