[NLA] Advocating for the Right to Vote

[Nancy Hansen]

To NLA Listserv readers,

The Sioux Falls Area Literacy Council in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has
jumped on the Right To Vote in Plain English bandwagon!

Being able to vote has been talked about for years in our program.
Until the count and re-count of Presidential votes in Florida happened,
we had kept a silent voice.  That all changed when Archie Willard helped

us to get involved.   Here is what we did!

First of all we went to the Iowa New Reader Coalition Conference in
September 2001.  Five learner leaders from our Council attended the
daylong session.  They carried their own County sample ballots to the
conference.  When they broke into small groups, the Iowa and South
Dakota learners looked over both states' ballots from Iowa and South
Dakota.

Iowa’s Secretary of State called our Secretary of State next!  I
followed up Secretary of State Culvers call with my own phone call.  The

time was set to meet on October 23, 2001 in the State Capitol.  Three
Sioux Falls area learner leaders and I traveled to Pierre, SD, to meet
with Secretary of State Joyce Hazeltine and two members of her staff.

They were very open to listening.  We gave them ideas for changes in the

Instructions To Voters at the top of the ballots as a starting point.
They also wanted to hear the ideas the Iowa learners gave at their
session.

The three state officials “cleared their calendar” and spent almost the
whole afternoon with us!  At the end of the meeting Secretary Hazeltine
thanked us for coming to Pierre.  She said, "This is the first time
anyone has even called our attention to this and we are very grateful
that you have brought it to our attention."

Other highlights of the trip were:

   * Having our picture taken with Governor William Janklow in the front

     hallway surrounded by the history of our Capitol built in
     1905-1910.
   * We watched Secretary Hazeltine open a special legislative session.
     Our elected officials were called to session to talk about new
     district lines for voting in 2002.  We were told that this happens
     every time the Census is taken.  Here we were talking about the
     vote of learning disabled voters and, at the same time, our elected

     officials were talking about something so important to the voting
     issue as this!
   * We watched part of that session.  Quite an argument happened in the

     Senate.  It was an educational experience watching our Senators
     work on our behalf.
   * We had lunch with the Secretary of State staff at a restaurant that

     is a favorite of our legislators.
   * We toured the Capitol building and grounds. We visited four
     memorials and monuments on the grounds at the edge of Capitol Lake.

   * Each Reader was given special mementos of the day – one of them was

     a bound copy of the "South Dakota Legislative Manual" presented by
     the Secretary of State.

They gave us "homework" as we left.  We were asked to review the
"Instructions to the Voters" wording for signs posted in polling places
throughout the state.  A meeting of the decision-makers is to be held
this week, so we had to move very quickly! We were told that they had
recently updated the wording.  After we had our meeting, the Elections
Supervisor, Chris Nelson, wasn't sure if the wording was simple enough.
He was right.  It wasn't.

We did our "homework" on our 4-hour trip home. After they were re-typed,

I called the learners to read them one more time and mailed them to
Pierre at the end of the week. I believe the suggestions will be well
received.  They were not unreasonable.  We feel good about it because it

could be the first step toward changing Voting in Plain English for the
2002 election.

It was a great experience.  I will be attending the Board of Elections
meeting on November 28th as a representative of our Council to explain
the issue.  The Board will make the decision about making our suggested
changes.

I cannot stress enough how important it was to have the three learner
leaders with me!  The impact was not in my being there, but in their
making the trip and being there!  What also was important was our state
officials gave us the time for a "working meeting" to make suggestions
for change!  I was NOT expecting that at our first face-to-face meeting,

but it happened because we knew what we wanted!

Our next challenge will be to address the Attorney General's writing of
the Amendments and Initiatives.   There are legal requirements for
wording of some of the phrases.  The Secretary of State staff made a
suggestion that perhaps an easy-to-understand version could be written
above with the legal version below.

Whatever happens, we are excited!  Our Council recommends other states
follow Archie Willard’s lead.  Talk to your Secretary of State.  What
can you do on behalf of all voters in your state?  Together as a nation
we can help adult learners in our country step into the polls next Fall
and cast a knowledgeable vote!

An advocate for the rights of adult learners,
Nancy Hansen
Executive Director
Sioux Falls Area Literacy Council






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