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Fairfax County in Va. offers Korean-language elections hotline

October 31, 2014
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova discusses a new Korean-language elections hotline at a press conference Wednesday.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova discusses a new Korean-language elections hotline at a press conference Wednesday.

Fairfax County in Virginia is encouraging Korean voters to come out for elections through its new Korean-language election assistance hotline.

Residents can check voting times, voting guidelines and other election questions through the county-operated hotline, available at 703-222-0776.

On Nov. 4, live assistants are available to offer information on voting locations and registration. Korean-speaking elections workers will also be on-site to answer questions.

Korean Americans make up 3.8 percent of the county’s population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, one of the largest minority groups in the region.

The county introduced Korean voting guidelines last year and expanded to Vietnamese this year. The hotline is an effort to get rid of some minorities’ difficulties with voting, said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova.

Bulova said diversity is one of Fairfax’s greatest assets and that it would work hard to expand language access services.

District 35 Virginia Delegate Mark Kim said Fairfax has no obligation under law to provide language services outside of English and Spanish.

Voters now need to react to the government’s effort by coming out to vote, Kim said.