Translation Advisory Council in Need of New Members
The Translation Advisory Council anticipates member vacancies and the addition of new languages to comply with Senate Bill 1533. Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade invites new applicants to consider serving their language communities in this dynamic role. New member service begins in July 2024.
To be a member of the TAC, a person must be a resident of Oregon and have civic service and lived experience in a community served by translated voters’ pamphlets or be proficient in English and one of the following languages: Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Marshallese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Ukrainian, or Vietnamese.
In addition, the Secretary tentatively expects U.S. Census data will indicate the addition of Farsi, Romanian, and Somali-speaking members, and Chinese-speakers who read and write Traditional Chinese characters.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, meaning an interested person with proficiency in any of the identified languages should feel free to apply. The most urgent need is for those who speak Korean, Farsi, Japanese, Romanian, Russian or Somali, and those who read and write Simplified Chinese characters or Traditional Chinese characters.
There is no deadline to apply; however, for most competitive consideration, applications should be submitted by April 15, 2024. Previous and current applications are kept on file and may be used in selecting members for current and future vacancies.