The Chicago Board of Elections held a press conference Thursday morning to highlight expanded language assistance available to voters ahead of the March 17 primary election, emphasizing resources for residents with limited English proficiency.

The event took place at the new Chicago Voter Supersite, located at 137 S. State Street in downtown Chicago. Officials outlined the multilingual support systems that will be available during early voting and on Election Day to ensure broader participation in the democratic process.

Among those addressing the media were Max Bever, Director of Public Information; Giovanna Carrillo, Spanish Community Service Representative; Kimico Mehta, South Asian Community Service Representative; Ezra Lee, Chinese Community Service Assistant; Monika Galuszka, Polish Community Service Representative; and Khun Byun, Korean Community Service Assistant.

Kimico Mehta, who serves as the South Asian Outreach Representative for the Board of Elections, highlighted resources available for voters from South Asian communities. She discussed the assignment of bilingual election judges and early voting officers who speak Hindi, Urdu, and Gujarati in wards where language services are required. These officials will assist voters who may need help understanding ballots, voting procedures, or election-related information.

Election officials announced that 34 early voting sites across the city will have bilingual early voting officials present. In addition, all early voting locations and precinct polling places will be equipped with touchscreen voting machines and audio ballots available in 12 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin audio), Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Polish, Gujarati, Urdu, Ukrainian, Arabic, and Russian.

The Board also confirmed that ahead of every election it releases a list of wards and precincts that will receive Limited English Proficiency (LEP) assistance on Election Day. At those locations, bilingual poll workers will be assigned and paper ballots will be available in Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, or Polish.

Officials say the initiative reflects Chicago’s diverse population and aims to ensure that language barriers do not prevent eligible residents from exercising their right to vote.