Oral assistance and publicity.

§ 55.20 Oral assistance and publicity. (a) General. Announcements, publicity, and assistance should be given in oral form to the extent needed to enable members of the applicable language minority group to participate effectively in the electoral process. (b) Assistance. The Attorney General will consider whether a jurisdiction has given sufficient attention to the needs of language minority group members who cannot effectively read either English or the applicable minority language and to the needs of members of language minority groups whose languages are unwritten. (c) Helpers. With respect to the conduct of elections, the jurisdiction will need to determine the number of helpers (i.e., persons to provide oral assistance in the minority language) that must be provided. In evaluating the provision of assistance, the Attorney General will consider such facts as the number of a precinct's registered voters who are members of the applicable language minority group, the number of such persons who are not proficient in English, and the ability of a voter to be assisted by a person of his or her own choice. The basic standard is one of effectiveness. [Order No. 655–76, 41 FR 29998, July 20, 1976, as amended by Order No. 1752–93, 58 FR 35373, July 1, 1993]