Bilingual Ballot Issue

Re George Will’s May 2 Column Right, “Bilingual Ballots Are Un-American” and his admiration for John Silber’s testimony in favor of repealing bilingual ballot requirements:

What is the problem? Why would we not want to give access to our political system to citizens who are not proficient with our English language? What better way to acculturate them to American values. That a person would take the time to vote, a task that many proficient English speakers shun, is itself an act that we should want to encourage.

Is Will really serious when he cites Silber’s statement that a person not proficient in English is a “citizen in name only” because he cannot follow a political campaign, talk with a candidate or petition a representative? “Sound bites,” “spin,” “campaign advertising,” “party platform statements,” “political rhetoric” are all English words describing our political milieu (oops, foreign word) which make it next to impossible for even fluent English speakers to make political determinations.

Those of our citizens who are not proficient in English pay taxes and have the right to make informed and uninformed decisions in the ballot booth.

HOWARD M. PHILLIPS

Los Angeles

* My French-born wife recently applied for U.S. citizenship. She opted to take the new citizen’s exam, which tests the applicant’s knowledge of U.S. history, government and proficiency in English. The closest test site was at the Korean Cultural Center. She was the only non-Korean at the test. For an exam that is supposed to test your ability to understand and write English, she was surprised when all the instructions and multiple-choice questions were read in Korean.

I’m all for multilingualism, but if you want to become a U.S. citizen, then one of your languages must be English. One of the main reasons why my wife wants to become American is to vote. But it takes more to vote than just being able to read a ballot; you must be able to understand what the candidates and propositions stand for, which is much easier if you speak English.

JON WEISBART

Los Angeles