波士顿2008年总统大选预选的选票读起来就象一个糟糕的中餐菜谱，共和党候选人罗姆尼的名字变成了“糯米”，民主党候选人希拉里的译名则是“坏了肚子”的意思。 ) W# }3 f# J6 K2 w l* Q5 i; W( S; I5 b: W; J
今日美国报7月10日报导说，据马萨诸塞州选举官员指出，参加2008年总统大选预选的候选人名字，被翻译成中文时闹出不少笑话，这让州务卿加尔文(William Galvin)颇为不满。, S+ @5 ~# X m0 E' W
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为此，加尔文已于7月10日在一家联邦法庭对与美国司法部达成的一项协议发出挑战，反对在选票上出现候选人的中文翻译名字。而美国司法部早前的协议规定，为了保护讲中文选民的权利，选票需要全部翻译成中文。" @9 Q; O4 E- o' v# \# ^
9 \9 N6 O9 n6 p$ J; ~) U9 ]加尔文则强调，选票上所使用的中文，其发音对于讲不同方言的华人有好几个含意，这将导致选票混乱。想要求把选票译成中文但候选人名字必须用英文的加尔文称，“选举不得不做到精确”，并认为中文译音可能会产生“无意的负面结果”。 ?0 {9 d" h# r2 M, K& l) V: m0 Z1 B2 m! O* w
今日美国报指出，但联邦政府和一些亚裔团体活动人士则反对加尔文的说法。美国司法部女发言人马格那森(Cynthia Magnuson)10日表示，候选人的译名“是一种允许选民进行独立投票非常有效的方式”，它可以让那些不懂英文的选民不需要有翻译来陪同。/ i4 G: i4 T s, v% o
: g7 l; E) Y: @美联社报导说，7月9日，马萨诸塞州的华人聚集在州府门前举行抗议示威，指责州务卿加尔文的做法忽视了全美国其它各地的相应做法，以及马萨诸塞州每天都发行的中文报纸这个现实。参加举行抗议集会的华人，举着写有“立即采用双语选票”、“要求选举权的完整”、“争取完整双语选票”等标语。 7 j4 p. o) D0 q* W6 s3 a; M6 n( x& R
这起争议源自2005年美国司法部对波士顿提出的诉讼，指控波士顿选举人员没有在选票上为那些不懂英文的亚裔选民标出候选人的译名。当年，司法部与波士顿市达成了选举权协议。在该协议中，司法部要求波士顿需要把选票翻译成中文，其中包括候选人的官衔和候选人的名字。$ |, M* Y$ k; q: i8 O/ M2 m
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但马萨诸塞州州务卿达尔文表示，他支持候选人的名字不翻译成其他文字，仍然以英文原名为准。加尔文称，司法部考虑到波士顿地区特殊的人口结构，才施加压力，让他们在选票上印上中文翻译文字。 6 B/ c, t! \. n! a3 T3 B& e; t: u3 \! a1 i1 A$ F
今日美国报说，波士顿举行咨询委员会Ann Har-Yee Wong指出，要求讲中文的选民去读候选人的英文名字，“类似于让波士顿的出租车司机在北京大街上行驶，试图去读懂只用中文书写的路标。”: T7 @8 ?# J" d6 B. s; B
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亚裔美国人法律辩护和教育基金会的Margaret Fung表示，“如果你要认真对待选民可以行使他们的投票权，投下明智的一票，那么选举官员就应当”在选票上出现所有候选人的译名。 % e5 k1 f J, g! |# D. J* @7 \% j. K, b6 x$ y2 {0 J* }- o
当地华人进步协会执行长Lydia Lowe指出，“双语选票是实际的需要。这是关乎我们选举权是否完整的大事。翻译成中文在技术上并不是一件麻烦的事。”Lydia Lowe还指出，双语选票之所以有必要，是因为一些华人虽然会讲英文，但他们阅读英文还是有困难的。 , T; W2 G: [: i: g6 o' n5 i' |) k: x# K$ O
华人进步协会促请州务卿起码在华人比较聚居的波士顿率先实行双语选票服务。Lydia Lowe表示，选票上的候选人姓名翻译成中文这一点很重要，这样可以确保投票人独立地、不受任何外来干扰的情况下投票。 % l+ K2 s( @6 P) `! S. } + d; T" n; z3 U0 x: ?0 J8 H亚裔美国人法律辩护和教育基金会的Margaret Fung指出，根据联邦选举法，亚裔美国人有资格在拥有众多非英语选民的七个州十六个司法管辖区的投票地点获得帮助。其中，在加利福尼亚州和纽约州的七个郡，选票上都有候选人的译名。 $ j: ~6 ?( R2 E- E! `( s* u8 r8 B" T c. i- V) v, p* `- G9 n8 ?
今日美国报指出，在波士顿地区，亚裔是增长最快的少数族裔。在2006年市议会的特别选举中，当地选举机构已将候选人的译名印在选票上。但监督全州和联邦选举的州务卿加尔文则表示，将不会再这样做，其中包括在3月4日的总统大选的预选。加尔文称，如果候选人对译名提出诉讼，那么就会花掉州政府的“数十万美元，但更糟糕的是诉讼和时间”。: q( f6 [# |- I1 r+ A
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但波士顿华人进步协会的社区组织者Alice Leung认为，如果候选人可以检查他们的中文译名，就不太可能发生这样的诉讼案件。Alice Leung说，“对于那些不中文的人来说，听起来译名可能会有些含意，但若把格林先生(Green)或布朗先生(Brown)当成颜色，中文读者会认为那很无聊。” 9 h* G" j; G" p* W# l( r, A5 \ . h0 l( E& T' ^+ ?$ |Candidates lost in Chinese translation $ |/ w$ a" R2 S1 ]+ F Z5 }0 u s0 Q* _3 c
Boston's 2008 presidential primary ballot could read like a bad Chinese menu.; A- K. v, C7 |2 a. H9 ~0 H7 u
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There might be "Sticky Rice" in column A, "Virtue Soup" in column B and, in column C, "Upset Stomach." 1 p7 l7 \+ h8 o0 j
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Those could be choices facing some voters if the names of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Hillary Rodham Clinton were converted into Chinese characters, according to Massachusetts' top election official. And that gives Secretary of State William Galvin heartburn. A1 |! i* J; @8 k$ J( a W7 V u/ t: Y; g' v# e5 L" x b! C, `
On Tuesday, Galvin filed a challenge in federal court to a Justice Department agreement requiring that ballots be fully translated to protect the rights of Chinese-speaking voters.4 Y! y* B* ?# y5 [& B) M( j! F
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Galvin says Chinese — which uses characters, not letters; has sounds with several meanings; and is spoken in several dialects — will create ballot chaos. * f; e: z6 w% D& k& ?4 ~& ]% m" R. i% k0 C% ?: k- N* c
"Elections have to be precise," says Galvin, who wants ballot instructions in Chinese but candidate names in English. He says transliteration — using characters whose sounds approximate the way the names are spoken — can have "unintended negative inferences." / I5 M1 p2 b7 c- O# Y/ u 8 c$ B5 c X+ W7 ]9 J' bThe federal government and some Asian-American activists disagree. Transliterating candidate names "is an effective way to allow voters to vote independently," unaccompanied by someone to translate, says Justice Department spokeswoman Cynthia Magnuson. , X: b0 S7 G) n+ L" S$ \: J: s. H) z. H E! M
Ann Har-Yee Wong of Boston's Elections Advisory Committee says asking Chinese-speaking voters to read a candidate's name in English is "akin to a Boston cabdriver navigating the streets in Beijing while trying to read street signs only in Chinese characters." 7 s7 k6 @* Q: q* O" e, M: K/ M) s% X. A1 z
Margaret Fung of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund says: "If you take seriously that voters be able to exercise their vote and cast an informed ballot, then the election officials should" transliterate names. " |% U" f* F7 j" g }' W
. I- ]' H& \5 ?' }/ ?The controversy stems from a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department that accused Boston poll workers of mismarking the ballots of Asian voters who didn't speak English. A 2005 settlement requires the city to translate instructions, office titles and candidate names on ballots in precincts with large numbers of Chinese speakers. 5 x2 k7 x n6 o+ J( _2 T : e& Z, D: e; v& b& S6 KFung says Asian-Americans are eligible under the federal Voting Rights Act to receive help at polling places in 16 jurisdictions in seven states with large numbers of non-English-speaking voters. Among those, seven counties in California and New York transliterate candidates' names on ballots. ) y4 N" \% ~3 Q- |6 x w3 [, [; U2 {- `' n
Asian-Americans are among the fastest-growing minority groups in Boston. Officials there first transliterated candidate names last year in special city council elections. But Galvin, who oversees state and federal elections, is balking at doing the same, including for the March 4 presidential primary. He says it would cost Massachusetts "thousands of dollars but, worse than that, litigation and time" if candidates sued over how their names are translated.3 U% G( y4 A$ c8 F7 \
9 }- u$ r9 \# A* b$ I( iAlice Leung, a community organizer with Boston's Chinese Progressive Association, says that would be unlikely if candidates could review how their names are translated. "For those not familiar with the Chinese language, it may sound possible that the transliterated names carry some meaning. However, Chinese readers would see this as silly as assuming Mr. Green or Brown to be colors," she says. 4 V8 O1 Y3 ^! Q( ?( |: I* c9 i0 b1 h$ M9 l. `2 U
Still, things can be lost in translation. Hope Chu of the Organization of Chinese Americans says hers is a tonal language in which a sound has many meanings. Take the "ma" in Barack Obama. It can mean "horse," "mother," "how," "what" or "to scold." And while Obama comes out as "Oh Bus Horse" in Cantonese, in the Mandarin dialect the Democrat's full name, according to a translation provided by Galvin, means "Oh Intellectual Overcome Profound Oh Gemstone." Or, says Siri Karm Singh Khalsa, president of The Boston Language Institute, "Europe Pulling a Horse." " y" ? [) U2 @4 r1 m , }3 p2 Y+ }0 m" |- HIf Obama's alias appears inscrutable, Clinton's sends an unpleasant message: "Upset Stomach." Phil Singer, spokesman for Clinton's campaign, says Chinese-American campaign workers told him that the characters usually used in Chinese-American media for her name mean "Like Prosperity." 6 f, E4 x& w0 R/ O3 y 9 L4 K1 Y! j: K6 t# e9 ]! GNot all translations are distasteful. Neither Thompson weighing a bid for the Republican presidential nomination is likely to get hot or sour over his Chinese name. In Mandarin, Fred Thompson's name could mean "Fortune Virtue Soup." In Cantonese, Tommy Thompson is "Beautiful Soup." * Y9 h) `; p6 q2 ^2 [6 _% a2 J
As for "Sticky Rice," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden says, "it could have been worse. My obvious preference would have been that it translated as 'Tax Cutter.' ") w$ L3 a8 R, m7 m9 z) F
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1 x1 m9 w5 t! M' YGuo Yan Mai, 71, waves to passersby in Boston as he holds up a sign expressing his support for fully bilingual election ballots during a demonstration in front of the Statehouse.
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