Indian-language ballots patchy across US despite 628,000+ Indian Americans in Texas
Synopsis
Over 628,000 Indian Americans live in Texas — and not one of them will find a native-language ballot on 3 November. Meanwhile, Chicago offers touchscreen Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu support at every polling site. A review of election offices across the US lays bare a patchwork of compliance, legal mandates ignored and a DHS language-access list that has never been published.
Key Takeaways
Chicago provides touchscreen and audio ballots in Hindi , Gujarati and Urdu at every polling site for the 3 November election.
Texas , home to 628,608 Indian Americans , offers no Indian-language ballot; only remote Hindi interpreters are available in Harris County.
Nassau County, New York was mandated to provide Malayalam under the New York Voting Rights Act in July 2025 , but no Malayalam ballot or sample ballot was evident days before the vote.
Middlesex County, New Jersey is covered under federal Section 203 but reportedly offers only vote-by-mail applications — not translated ballots — in Gujarati, Hindi and Punjabi.
Approximately 891,000 US adults speak Hindi, the fifth most spoken language among Asian adults, according to AAPI Data .
The Census Bureau's next Section 203 language determinations are expected in December 2026 .
Indian-American voters across the United States face starkly uneven access to native-language ballots ahead of 3 November, with cities like Chicago offering full touchscreen and audio support in Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu at every polling site — while Texas, home to more than 628,000 Indian Americans, provides no Indian language on its ballots at all, according to a review of election offices across the country.
Where Language Access Is Strongest
The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners provides touchscreen and audio ballots in Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu at every polling site in the city, along with paper ballots in Hindi in high-need precincts. Bilingual officials fluent in Hindi and Urdu staffed early-voting sites in Wards 33, 34, 39 and 40 earlier this year, with Gujarati support also offered in Ward 40. Suburban Cook County runs dedicated phone hotlines in Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu for voters requiring assistance.
In Queens, the New York City Board of Elections provides interpreters in Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali, with Bengali available on ballot-marking devices. Brooklyn offers Bengali and Urdu interpreter support. California counties provide reference ballots in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Telugu, Gujarati and Nepali under state law, with Santa Clara County listing Hindi as an official ballot language. In Hamtramck, Michigan, the city has posted a Bangla sample ballot for November, reportedly even after a court-ordered Bengali programme expired in 2025.
The Gaps: Texas, New Jersey and Nassau County
In Texas — which recorded 628,608 Indian Americans in the 2023 American Community Survey — ballots in Harris County are available only in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. Only remote Hindi interpreter services are on offer, with no Indian-language ballot in sight.
In Nassau County, New York, the state Board of Elections determined in July 2025 that the county must provide Malayalam under the New York Voting Rights Act, given roughly 6,509 Asian Indian voting-age citizens with limited English proficiency. The state posts Malayalam versions of mail, absentee and accessible-ballot request forms. However, no Malayalam ballot, sample ballot or Malayalam-speaking interpreter was evident on the Nassau Board of Elections website in the days before the vote.
Middlesex County, New Jersey — covered for Asian Indian languages under Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which mandates ballot translation — reportedly offers only vote-by-mail applications in Gujarati, Hindi and Punjabi, with no evidence of translated ballots or sample ballots available.
The Legal and Federal Landscape
Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act remains in force through 2032 and legally requires covered jurisdictions to provide translated election materials including ballots. However, in July 2025, the Justice Department issued guidance to agencies to minimise non-essential multilingual services, a move critics argue creates a chilling effect on compliance even where translation remains mandatory.
Notably, a 78-page Department of Homeland Security list of jurisdictions offering non-English election materials — reportedly covering Section 203 areas that likely include Indian- and Bangladeshi-language regions such as Cook, Middlesex, Queens and Hamtramck — has not been made public. The Census Bureau's next Section 203 determinations, which decide which counties must offer which languages, are expected in December 2026.
The Scale of the Need
According to AAPI Data, approximately 891,000 adults in the US speak Hindi — the fifth most spoken language among Asian adults in the country. Around 529,000 speak Urdu, 498,000 Telugu, 458,000 Gujarati and 429,000 Bengali. About 16.7% of Asian Indian adults have limited English proficiency, the lowest among major Asian groups, compared to 44.2% of Bangladeshi adults.
Census data place 998,170 Indian Americans in California, 628,608 in Texas, 446,417 in New Jersey, 416,407 in New York and 277,961 in Illinois.
What Voters Can Do
Under federal law, any voter who needs help may bring a person of their choice into the polling booth — excluding an employer or union representative. Voters seeking assistance can also call the APIAVote and Advancing Justice-AAJC hotline at 1-888-API-VOTE, which offers support in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Urdu.
As the Indian-American electorate continues to grow, the inconsistency between jurisdictions bound by federal law and those where language access is effectively absent is likely to draw greater legal and political scrutiny ahead of the December 2026 Census Bureau determinations.
Point of View
With no apparent consequence for non-compliance. Section 203 has been law since 1975 and is valid through 2032, yet counties with large limited-English Indian-American populations are visibly under-serving it — while the Justice Department's 2025 guidance to reduce multilingual services has muddied the compliance culture further. The non-publication of the DHS jurisdictions list is a quiet but significant form of opacity that makes accountability harder. With Indian-American voter registration rising sharply across swing states, the gap between legal obligation and on-the-ground reality is not just a civil-rights issue — it is a political one that neither party has yet been pressed to address seriously.
NationPress
25 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Which US cities offer Indian-language ballots for the November 2026 election?
Chicago offers the most comprehensive access, with touchscreen and audio ballots in Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu at every polling site, along with bilingual staff and phone hotlines in Cook County. California counties provide reference ballots in seven Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Telugu, and Santa Clara County lists Hindi as an official ballot language. Queens and Brooklyn in New York City also provide Indian-language interpreters and some ballot-marking device support.
Why do Indian Americans in Texas have no native-language ballot access?
Texas is not covered under Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act for Indian languages, which means there is no legal mandate for counties to provide translated ballots. Harris County offers only remote Hindi interpreter assistance; the ballot itself is in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. Despite Texas having 628,608 Indian Americans, the threshold determinations under federal law have not triggered a translation requirement.
What is Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act and how does it apply?
Section 203 requires jurisdictions above certain population and limited-English-proficiency thresholds to provide translated election materials, including ballots. It remains law through 2032. Counties such as Middlesex in New Jersey and Cook County in Illinois are covered for Asian Indian languages, though a review found compliance is inconsistent — some offer only application forms rather than full translated ballots.
What happened with the Nassau County Malayalam ballot requirement?
In July 2025, the New York State Board of Elections determined that Nassau County must provide Malayalam under the New York Voting Rights Act, given approximately 6,509 Asian Indian voting-age citizens with limited English proficiency. While the state posts Malayalam versions of ballot request forms, no Malayalam ballot, sample ballot or interpreter was evident on the Nassau Board of Elections website in the days before the November vote.
How many Indian Americans in the US have limited English proficiency?
According to AAPI Data, about 16.7% of Asian Indian adults in the US have limited English proficiency — the lowest rate among major Asian groups. By comparison, 44.2% of Bangladeshi adults have limited English proficiency. Around 891,000 US adults speak Hindi, making it the fifth most spoken language among Asian adults in the country.
