75 percent of Minnesota Voters Support Making English the Official Language

Poll of likely voters finds strong support for common language policy

Three-in-four Minnesota voters support making English the official language of the state, according to a recent poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. The survey found that the overwhelming majority of North Star State residents want the state to conduct business in English, including strong majorities within each political party. The survey of 625 likely voters was conducted Sept. 18-20, 2006 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

“From European immigrants at the turn of the century to today’s immigrants from southeast Asia, Minnesota has long been a destination for newcomers to the United States,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English. “They may have come from different places, but one thing these immigrants had in common was a desire to learn our common language, English. Today, Minnesota is a mosaic of cultures, but it is unified because people have been able to share in our prosperity because of their knowledge of English.”

Last session, two bills were introduced to make English the official language of Minnesota, although neither was considered before the end of the session. In recent years, the rate of limited English proficiency among Minnesotans has increased at a significant rate, increasing from fewer than 1-in-50 residents in 1990 to more than 1-in-30 persons in 2000.

Making English the official language of a state calls upon the government to conduct business in English and limit governmental multilingualism to common-sense activities such as health care, public safety, judicial proceedings and tourism. To date, 27 states have English as their official language, and H.R. 997, Congressional legislation promoting this policy at the federal level, has become one of the most widely supported bills in the 109th Congress.

“The people of Minnesota have a reasonable expectation that immigrants are on the road toward learning English,” added Mujica. “The results of this survey clearly demonstrate that Minnesotans want a language policy consistent with that goal. I hope that legislators on the campaign trail will take note of these results and work to make English as the official language of Minnesota in 2007.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.