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False deadline on Spanish materials part of alarming, decades-long documented pattern of ballot barriers for Spanish-speaking voters in Berks County
READING, PA—Berks County voters; civil rights groups including Make the Road PA, Berks Stands Up, and the NAACP; and elected officials held a press conference Thursday demanding answers, accountability, and ballot protection steps after Berks County election officials sent false election information to 17,000 voters just ahead of Tuesday’s election. The instructions for returning a mail-in ballot in Spanish told voters the deadline to return ballots was November 18, 16 days past the true deadline of election day on November 2. Voting instructions in English included the correct date. The groups demanded Berks County publicly release details about which voters received this misinformation (including which percentage of recipients are Spanish-speakers), and honor the deadline they originally sent to those 17,000 voters and accept mail-in ballots—from those 17,000 voters who received incorrect information from their office only—until November 18.
Berks officials have refused to publicly release where those 17,000 misinformation ballots were sent, or what percentage of these 17,000 ballots went to Spanish-speaking voters. Berks County has sent a letter to the impacted voters, but has not publicly released an outreach plan or made accommodations in light of their false information.
Reading has the largest per capita Latino population in the entire state of Pennsylvania, with 69% of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. In Berks county the Latino community has grown by almost 50% since 2010, census data show.
Watch the press conference here: https://www.facebook.com/
This false information follows a years-long pattern of voter suppression and high barriers to vote for Spanish-speakers in Berks County. A 2003 lawsuit by the US federal government alleged Berks County’s violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, citing hostile treatment of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking voters, lack of bilingual poll workers, lack of bilingual materials, and County officials’ knowledge and refusal to remedy these issues.
Continuing the pattern of disenfranchisement outlined in the 2003 lawsuit, the November 2020 election in Reading was plagued with voter suppression including five hour long lines, lack of language access, and racism from poll workers against Latinx voters. Latino advocacy group Ceiba considered taking Berks county to court for not having online Spanish-language mail-in applications available for the 2020 May primary. There was also a reported case of a ballot drop-off location not having enough Spanish-language signage.
Make the Road Pennsylvania, the largest Latinx organization in the state, has registered more than 10,500 voters across Pennsylvania, and contacts hundreds of thousands of voters each year to ensure Latinx, Black, and young voters can exercise their right to vote without barriers or misinformation.
Said Patty Torres, Organizing Director of Make the Road PA:
“It’s alarming and enraging to know that Latino and Spanish-speaking voters were an afterthought when Berks County prepared materials for this very important election, and it’s even worse to know this is part of a documented, decades-long pattern of disenfranchisement of Spanish-speakers in Berks County. We need to know which 17,000 voters received this false information, who was impacted, and specifically what will be done to repair this harm. To protect the integrity of this election, Berks Commissioners must honor the deadline they originally sent to 17,000 voters, and accept mail-in ballots—from those 17,000 voters who received incorrect information from their office only—until November 18.”
Said Yubelkis Tavaraz, a Berks County resident and member of Make the Road PA who received a misinformation ballot:
“Anyone relying on Berks County for election information was badly misinformed this year. This false information is unacceptable, and our Latino community is the most impacted by this misinformation. We’re 69% of Reading and we’re not going to accept being treated like second class citizens—we know our rights. We all have the right to vote, and we need Berks Commissioners to take accountability, tell us who got these ballots, and honor the deadline they originally sent to 17,000 people.”
Said State Representative Manny Guzman:
“Berks election officials had one job—to make this election fair—and they failed. This vast misinformation is part of a very long history of voter suppression in Berks County, and we will not sweep this under the rug, definitely not on my watch.
Disenfranchisement doesn’t have to be intentional, it happens when you send 17,000 people the incorrect election date. We know that some races are decided by 10, 15, or 100 votes, and if any single person is disenfranchised by this misinformation, it’s a failure and it’s a violation of our rights.”
Said State Representative Danilo Burgos:
“The Latino community contributes to Berks County as community members and as frontline workers, yet our community continues to be disenfranchised. This misinformation is not acceptable. Make your plan now to return your mail-in ballot in person, or come out and vote on November 2!”
Said Raquel Capellan, a local Reading resident:
“Sending out 17,000 misinformation ballots shows extreme negligence and incompetence on many levels from our County. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen high barriers for Spanish-speaking voters in Berks County, but we’re here to make sure it is the last. Our right to vote is sacred, and that’s why Commissioners must protect the integrity of this election and honor the return deadline they sent out to 17,000 voters, release details about which voters in which municipalities received this false information, and publicly publish a detailed plan to ensure this never happens again.”
Said Gabe Morgan, 32BJ SEIU Vice President and State Director in Pennsylvania and Delaware:
“We are deeply troubled by the misinformation that Berks County sent to thousands of Spanish-speaking voters. The false election date could easily lead to the unjust tipping of election results. Whatever the cause of the misinformation, it continues a pattern of mistreatment of Spanish-speaking voters that has been well documented in Berks County. At the very least, it demonstrates county officials’ continued disregard of their residents’ right to equal treatment.”
Make the Road Pennsylvania is the largest Latinx organization in the state of Pennsylvania. With 10,000 members, we are dedicated to organizing the working class in Latinx communities, building power for justice.
Information provided to TVL by:
Melissa McCleery
