Translation error impacts general municipal election in Arcadia
Here’s an example of how an error in translation can have an impact on our daily lives, in this case in the democratic process of voting.
Arcadia, California, city election officials had to spend the greater part of last week practicing damage control. The problem arose when city's nearly 29,000 voters were sent election ballots with a critical error in its Chinese-language instructions that could cause votes to be invalidated during Arcadia's general municipal election in April.
According to the LA Times, the ballot, mailed to residents this month, provided instructions in four languages. English, Vietnamese and Spanish speakers read that they should "vote for no more than two" of the five candidates for City Council.
However, the instructions in Chinese read: "Vote for no more than three."
"It was wrong for every single registered voter in their ballot and their sample ballot," Chief Deputy City Clerk Lisa Mussenden said Tuesday. "It's just something that happened and we're doing everything we can to make sure we get the word out."
The Anaheim-based election consultant Martin and Chapman Co., which uses its own translation firm, prepared the election ballots, Mussenden said.
City Manager Don Penman said the error is estimated to cost between $7,000 and $10,000, and that the election consultant should reimburse the city's costs.
"We've never had an error like this before," said Lisa Mussenden, Arcadia's chief deputy city clerk and records manager. "The city is going to do whatever it can to reach out and try to minimize the error."
Penman suggested the city should have translations double-checked in future.
The city is also posting correction notices in newspapers and handed out flyers Friday at a candidate forum sponsored by the Arcadia Chinese-American Association, Mussenden said.
Alex Dupont
See Also
- Full Los Angeles Times story
Arcadia city officials grapple with Chinese language ballot error - More about translation
Using a 3-step process ensures that documents are rendered seamlessly and accurately into the languages of your choice, preserving every bit of their original meaning and nuance.