FLORIDA — A change may come for the 2020 election which would make it easier for Spanish speaking voters to cast their ballots.

  • Gov. Ron DeSantis made announcement Thursday
  • 46 counties have varying requirements for ESL voters
  • More Florida Politics stories

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he would look into ensuring all 67 counties in Florida offer bilingual ballots and Spanish-speaking assistance at the polls for 2020.

“Florida has a significant Spanish-speaking population and our state is home to many Puerto Ricans who moved here after the devastation of Hurricane Maria,” DeSantis said. “These fellow citizens should be able to fully participate in our democracy, which is why I am directing the Department of State to address voting accessibility issues for Florida’s Spanish-speaking community statewide.”

David and Edna Diaz said this could help Latino voters like themselves, especially those who are not bilingual.

“I have people who call me up and say, 'can you explain this to me? Because I don’t understand what it says,'” David said.

“The terminology sometimes is hard to understand when you don’t speak English, or speak English well,” Edna said. “The Hispanic community is growing fast every year and that’s why it’s necessary.”

David said the Spanish-speaker helpers would make a huge difference.

“One thing is having the ballot in your hand, but the other one is like, ‘if I’m confused, what am I going to do now?’”

Jorge Vasquez with the Hispanic Advocacy group Latino Justice PRLDEF said these changes should have been made a long time ago.

The organization filed a federal lawsuit against 32 Florida counties it alleged did not provide bilingual ballots during last year’s midterm election, violating article 4E of the Voting Rights Act.

“We want to make sure that Puerto Ricans who are U.S. Citizens are able to have the same fundamental rights that any other citizen here in Florida is able to have,” Vasquez said.

Right now, there are 46 counties subject to varying requirements to accommodate voters who speak other languages.