Press Release

    November 3, 2002      Secretary of State Candidate's Website is now in Spanish and German!

Alexander Martin, the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State, announces today that his candidate website
(https://www.angelfire.com/sd2/martin/index.html) now includes pages in Spanish and German.

There are over 45,000 people in South Dakota who speak a language other than English as their native language. About 35,000 people speak Lakota, German or Spanish as their first language.  Thanks to Alta Vista's Babelfish
language translater  (http://world.altavista.com/) , Candidate Martin is happy to announce that his candidate webspage is now available in Spanish and German.  This will allow thousands of people the opportunity to read about Candidate Martin's ideas in their native language so they can make a well-informed decision on Tuesday.

Since almost 6 1/2 % of all voters in South Dakota speak a language other than English,  Alex Martin pledges today that if he is elected as Secretary of State on November 5, he will make Spanish, German and other foreign language webpages available to voters who do not speak or read English.

"I believe the government of South Dakota belongs to the people of South Dakota, who are the owners.  Since 1 out of 16 voters do not speak English as their first language, I think it is time to make the Elections Pages of the Secretary of State's Office available to those who speak and read Spanish, German and other languages.  The Secretary of State's Office can provide the best possible service to all the voters of the state by providing information on the web in Spanish, German, Lakota, French, as well as in English.  How can a person feel that he or she owns the government when the government doesn't speak their language?" said Martin.  

Candidate Martin said that he hopes to have French, Italian and Portuguese versions of his candidate website up by Election Day.  Over 1,600 people in South Dakota speak Italian, French or Portuguese as their first language.