US bill against fraudulent electoral names passed

SACRAMENTO—A Senate body has approved a bill that bans candidates from fraudulently using foreign names and alphabets to woo voters.

The Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 88 that seeks to ensure translation of candidates’ names to Asian and other foreign languages and non-modern Latin alphabet is truthful.

“SB 88 will ensure that the name appearing on the ballot is in fact the actual name or translated name of the candidate,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). “Voters deserve to know the true identity of the individuals they are asked to elect.”

Currently, candidates can submit foreign names that are not based on their real names or their phonetic translation. Some candidates, for example, use popular Asian names or appealing words in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese as their electoral names.

The bill gained bipartisan support in the previous Congress but former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) vetoed it.

“I am confident that under Governor (Jerry) Brown we can get this bill signed into law,” said Yee.

The Senate bill mandates the formulation of guidelines for the fair use of candidate names in jurisdictions that allow foreign translation of ballots.

Candidates who would like their names written in non-modern Latin alphabet would be provided a phonetic translation or transliteration of their name by the county elections office or by the Secretary of State’s office.

“Alternatively, a candidate could submit their own translated name if the candidate has a character-based language name by birth or already identifies by a particular character-based name within the public sphere,” he said.

“SB 88 attempts to stop the last-minute, deceptive practice of using a fake name simply to deceive Asian voters to win an election,” said Yee.  “This legislation will help to further protect the integrity of our electoral system.”