DOJ: DuPage County must offer bilingual documents

Federal officials say DuPage County must provide election ballots in English and Spanish.

The Department of Justice says recent census data showed DuPage County met bilingual election requirements. The county must also have Spanish-speaking election judges and its election commission must hire a translator and Hispanic community liaison.

Federal officials announced similar requirements Thursday for dozens of jurisdictions nationwide.

The requirements are mandated under the Voting Rights Act. It says entities must supply election materials in other languages if a certain minority group makes up more than 5 percent of the voting-age population or at least 10,000 citizens.

The minorities must be unable to speak or understand English well enough to vote. That's determined by those who indicate in census surveys that they don't speak English “very well.”