Spanish Translation Problems for Maryland Ballot Summary

Raul Rivera

An error surrounding the ballot question for Maryland's marriage equality initiative may confuse some of the state's Spanish-speaking voters, WUSA reports.

Ross Goldstein, the Board of Elections deputy administrator for Silver Spring, Md., said a mistake occurred when the state's marriage equality voter initiative, Question 6, was incorrectly translated from English to Spanish.

The ballot summary for the marriage equality question changes the order of its wording, which could cause people to vote the opposite of their intended vote, Raul Rivera, a translator, told WUSA News.

The Spanish version of the measure itself is correct, but the language of the ballot summary says that same-sex marriage is already the law, so voting yes on Question 6 would repeal it. In fact, voting no on Question 6 would be a vote against marriage equality.