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Los Angeles County Language Accessibility Advisory Committee (LAAC)
Los Angeles County Language Accessibility Advisory Committee (LAAC)
Pursuant to SB 450, California’s Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) and the Secretary of State Guidelines, each County Clerk or Registrar of Voters shall establish a LAAC.
COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS
May assist in the recruitment of voting centers;
May assist and advise county elections officials with outreach and education programs for limited English proficient (LEP) voters;
May advise county elections officials on voting systems language accessibility and the constraints affecting limited English proficient voters’ participation;
May advise county elections officials in obtaining equipment/ mechanisms and election materials to overcome or correct those constraints;
May assist county elections officials in surveying vote centers to ensure language assistance and election materials are in compliance with the Voting Rights Act, Section 203 guidelines with regards to language accessibility. Upon completion of this evaluation, the LAAC may:
Identify and advise when a vote center is not in compliance with the minimum language assistance requirements, i.e. lack of multilingual election workers.
Identify and advise of any additional language need in a specific vote center.
Identify and advise when a vote center does not have the appropriate translated voting materials.
May advise county election officials in training of election workers relative to language accessibility, the availability of translated election materials and the assistance of voters with limited English proficiency;
May review translated outreach, election materials, online materials, and messaging strategies to ensure clarity and accuracy;
May assist in the recruitment of election workers;
May undertake other activities relative to utilization of language accessibility in the voting process, i.e. outreach.
COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
Pursuant to SB 450, California’s Voter’s Choice Act (VCA), counties participating in the VCA model must establish a local LAAC before they can hold an election. The VCA requires county elections officials to establish a LAAC no later than October 1 of the year prior to the first election conducted, and hold its first meeting no later than April 1 of the year in which the first election is conducted. The LAAC must be comprised of representatives of language minority communities.
RR/CC Language Accessibility Advisory Committee members shall be invited based on the following criteria:
Individuals or representatives from organizations with a demonstrated knowledge in a particular covered language or experience working with ethnically and language diverse communities
Individuals or representatives from organizations with a background in voter registration, voter outreach, voter rights, voter education and/or voter engagement
Members with leadership experience in their community, or experience in community activism, service, or outreach
Members with experience in communications, web design, media, social media, legal advocacy, policy analysis, mapping, data analysis, or demography
Members with experience in translation services, either as a certified interpreter or professional translator in a covered language
Representatives from organizations that are committed to serve on the Advisory Committee and attend meeting when scheduled
Note: Meeting Frequency: one-hour quarterly meeting.