New Poll Finds Strong Support for Official English Legislation in Nevada

70 percent of Silver State voters favor recently introduced measure

70 percent of registered voters in Nevada favor making English the official language of the state, according to a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. The survey, which coincides with a new official English bill recently introduced in Nevada, found strong support among every subset of the population, including 80 percent support among Republicans and 60 percent among Democrats. The poll of 625 registered voters was conducted Feb. 6-8, 2007 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

“In recent years, Nevada has experienced tremendous population growth, including significant numbers of new Americans,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. “However, the state will not realize the benefits of a growing population if a large portion of those people are unable to interact in the community and with other Nevadans.”

This week, Nevada State Senator Bob Beers introduced S.B. 325, legislation to make English the official language of Nevada. The measure would call upon the Nevada government to conduct business in English and limit governmental multilingualism to common-sense exceptions such as health care, public safety, judicial proceedings and tourism. To date, 28 states have English as their official language. In November 2006, Arizona became the newest addition to the list when nearly 75 percent of the voters affirmed Proposition 103.

“According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the limited English proficient population in Nevada has quadrupled since 1990,” noted Mujica. “Without a common language policy to assimilate non-English speakers into the mainstream, there will continue to be a growing ‘second-class’ of residents whose potential will be limited because of their lack of English fluency. I look forward to working with Sen. Beers and the Nevada legislature to develop a policy that will keep Nevadans moving forward together.”

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.