New York Daily News

Speaking more of our languages at the polls

- BY LEONARD GREENE

City Hall won a last-minute legal battle with the Board of Elections on Monday that will allow the city to put scores of interprete­rs at polling places for Tuesday’s public advocate race.

The board, which already provides Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Banglali interprete­rs inside some polling places, had argued that more interprete­rs could influence voters’ choices and impede safety and accessibil­ity.

State Supreme Court Justice Edgar Walker blocked the board’s bid, unconvince­d that additional interprete­rs would engage in electionee­ring or get in the way of voters. The board appealed and lost later on Monday.

“This isn’t just a win for all New Yorkers, it’s a win for democracy itself,” Mayor de Blasio tweeted after the ruling. “Nothing should stand in the way of the right to vote — especially

The mayor wants to put translator­s who speak Russian, Haitian Creole, Yiddish, Polish and “a whole host of languages that will help people vote” inside 100 polling places around the city.

A Board of Elections spokeswoma­n could not be reached for comment.

Under current election law, anyone not approved by the board must stay 100 feet away from a polling place.

The board had asked for a preliminar­y injunction to keep new interprete­rs from breaking the 100-foot barrier. On Monday, the city’s Law Department opposed the board.

Polls will be open on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

City voters are selecting a new public advocate to replace Letitia James, who was elected state attorney general.

Seventeen candidates are on the ballot in the special election. not your language.”

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