Tennessee - Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Elections
Program Title
American Sign Language (ASL) Video Project
Program Summary
The Tennessee Secretary of State's Office partnered with Disability Rights Tennessee to address concerns from the deaf community regarding four proposed constitutional amendments appearing on the ballot. The concern was that with more intricate legal language, like that contained within constitutional amendments, there is an increased possibility of confusion for those who read English but sign ASL. Five videos featuring an ASL interpreter were filmed in response. The first video explained the process for voting and passing proposed constitutional amendments. Four additional videos were created for each of the proposed constitutional amendments. The videos included the same information provided in English to those who visited the Secretary of State's webpage. The series was a low-cost, resoundingly successful way to provide trusted information to those who use ASL. By implementing this project, the Tennessee Secretary of State's Office was able to provide essential information to drastically decrease the likelihood that voters who are deaf would be uninformed about components of the constitutional amendments featured on the ballot.