Voting information in other languages
The short answer
Federal law requires covered jurisdictions to provide election materials and assistance in specific languages, and it allows most voters who need help reading a ballot to bring a person of their choice. Use official translations rather than machine translated instructions.
Go straight to the official source
Official source
Open the EAC language access resources
Official election materials and glossaries in languages other than English.
Open the EAC language access resources
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Official source
Open Vote.gov in another language
Federal registration guidance published in more than a dozen languages.
Open Vote.gov in another language
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Where reviewed translations come from
Use materials produced or approved by an election authority. The Election Assistance Commission publishes a glossary of election terms in multiple languages that local offices use for ballots and signage, and Vote.gov publishes registration guidance in many languages. Local election offices in covered jurisdictions publish translated ballots, notices, and instructions.
Why we do not machine translate voting instructions
An automatic translation of a deadline, an identification rule, or a ballot instruction can change its meaning in ways that are hard to notice. A mistranslated envelope instruction can invalidate a ballot. For that reason this site links to reviewed official materials rather than translating legal instructions itself.
Bringing someone to help you
Federal law lets most voters who need help reading or marking a ballot choose their own assistant, with narrow exceptions for an employer or a union agent. You do not have to accept a stranger’s help, and you do not have to explain why you want assistance.
Interpreters at the polling place
Covered jurisdictions are required to provide language assistance, which often means bilingual poll workers or interpreters at specific locations. Availability varies by site, so ask your local office which locations are staffed in your language.
If materials are missing
If a covered jurisdiction does not provide required materials, that is a compliance question. Federal voting rights resources, including how to report a problem, are published by the Department of Justice and linked in our sources directory.
Questions worth asking your election office
- Is this jurisdiction covered for a language other than English, and which one?
- Are translated ballots and instructions available for my precinct?
- Which locations have bilingual poll workers or interpreters?
- May I bring my own helper into the voting booth?
What the official record shows
Coverage is determined by law and data
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires certain jurisdictions to provide registration and voting materials in a covered minority language, based on determinations made using Census data. Section 208 allows a voter who needs assistance because of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write to receive help from a person of the voter's choice, other than an employer or union agent.
Federal sites publish in many languages
Vote.gov publishes registration guidance in more than a dozen languages, and the Election Assistance Commission publishes glossaries and translated materials that election offices use.
Our perspective
Translation is part of election administration, not a favor
A ballot a voter cannot read is a ballot cast with less information than the next person's. Where the law requires translation, it should be funded and staffed like any other part of running an election.
This panel states what we believe. It is labeled, it is separate from the record above, and it never changes the voting instructions on this site.
The strongest argument against our view
Some jurisdictions argue that translation and bilingual poll worker recruitment are expensive relative to the number of voters served in a given cycle. Cost is real, and it is the reason coverage is set by data rather than by preference. Where coverage applies, the requirement is not discretionary.
What remains uncertain
Coverage determinations are updated periodically, so a jurisdiction covered in a past cycle may not be covered now. Confirm what your jurisdiction provides with the local election office.
Sources
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United States Election Assistance Commission
Official election materials and glossaries in languages other than English.
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United States Election Assistance Commission
Vote.gov, published in multiple languages
Federal registration guidance published in more than a dozen languages.
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Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice
Federal voting rights information and the route for reporting a problem.
Change history
This page has not been substantively changed since it was published on August 29, 2026.
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