Following sustained community advocacy, Russian and Haitian-Creole poll translators will be stationed at 20 polling sites throughout Southern Brooklyn for the first time, thanks to funding secured by Brooklyn Council Member Mark Treyger, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and the Administration and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). This victory was significantly aided by Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte's leadership in the New York State Legislature, fighting to increase language access at polling sites.

The City Council funded the $350,000 interpreter pilot program, championed by Council Member Treyger, with the support of the Mayor's administration and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. This mirrors state legislation A7194 and A0312, introduced in 2015, and again in 2017 by Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte.

The pilot program secured Russian-speaking translators for 15 poll sites and Haitian-Creole-speaking translators at five polling sites throughout Southern Brooklyn. The program will be implemented for this year's General Election on November 7.

In addition to the legislation requiring Haitian-Creole translators, Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte has also introduced legislation, A7208 and A0311, to ensure all voting materials are translated into Haitian-Creole.

Assembly Member Bill Colton has also been a tremendous advocate for Russian-speaking translators at polling sites, and he fought tirelessly for this reform.

For many of the residents in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Little Odessa and Little Haiti, this pilot program will spur much-needed reform to help make voting accessible to all. Unfortunately, the New York City Board of Elections has declined to allow the interpreters to be stationed inside polling places. Instead, they will be located at tables near the entrances of the 20 polling sites - interpreters will wear jackets bearing the New York City seal, and buttons that say "Interpreter" in English, Russian, and Haitian-Creole. Any voter in need of assistance may ask the interpreters to accompany them into the poll site, to assist them with the voting process.

"I want to thank Council Member Mark Treyger, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Administration and MOIA, and others for being champions on this issue, however more still needs to be done so that voters throughout the state are receiving the same assistance," said Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte. "Year after year I have gone to polling sites throughout my district and I have seen Chinese and Spanish translators, and while this is beneficial for some members of my community, there are an overwhelming number of Haitian residents that are being disenfranchised because they don't have a full understanding of what is going on. When I was elected into office, this was one of the things I wanted to change, and so I introduced legislation on both the city and state level to remedy this issue."

"Our City has an obligation to make sure that language assistance is available-especially if we want more people to vote," said Council Member Mark Treyger. "This is a long overdue victory, possible because of a pilot program I helped fund-along with Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the Administration and MOIA-that will help ensure that more people are able to vote. Low voter turnout is proof that we need more language access at poll sites, and this pilot program is hopefully just the beginning of more inclusive voting policies."

While this pilot program is a step in the right direction, there remain significant opportunities for expansion in the future, to more fully cover the significant unmet language access needs of Russian- and Haitian-Creole-speaking voters. For example, the neighborhood of Little Haiti in Flatbush, which has many Haitian residents along Flatbush Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, Church Avenue, and Ocean Avenue were not included in the initial pilot. This is likely because the Haitian community is severely under counted. The five (5) poll sites where Haitian Creole interpreters will be stationed are concentrated in Canarsie, and include:

PS 68, 845 E 96 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236

PS 276, 1070 E 83rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11236

PS 251, 1037 E 54th St, Brooklyn, NY 11234

PS 115, 1500 E 92nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11236

Canarsie High School, 1600 Rockaway Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11236

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte will continue to join hands with the Administration and Council Member Mark Treyger to ensure no one is deprived of their right to vote.