State Senator Jason Lewis unveils Chinese transliterated name

To familiarize voters with the new change to Malden’s ballot and ensure voters have accurate information, State Senator Jason Lewis is proud to unveil his Chinese transliterated name. The Senator’s official transliterated Chinese name is 杰森 · 刘伟斯 in simplified Chinese characters and 傑森 · 劉偉斯 in traditional Chinese characters.

“Voting is a fundamental right, essential to our democracy, and should be made as simple and accessible as possible for all citizens,” said Senator Lewis. “I’m excited to be announcing my Chinese transliterated name to the public, and I’m grateful to everyone who helped bring about this change to expand voting accessibility in Malden.”

Last year, Malden became the second city in Massachusetts (after the City of Boston) to bring Chinese transliterated names to their ballots to make voting more accessible. While bilingual ballots are required under the amended Federal Voting Rights Act of 1975 for municipalities with a considerable single-language population, this does not include candidates’ names. This meant that voters in Malden, where Chinese is spoken at nearly five times the state’s average rate, could understand the instructions on how to vote but not whom they were voting for. From now on, both the instructions and candidate names will be available in Chinese.

This change is a result of the passage of a home rule petition sponsored by Mayor Gary Christenson and the Malden City Council. The Malden legislative delegation, which is comprised of Senator Lewis and Representatives Steve Ultrino, Paul Donato and Kate Lipper-Garabedian, then secured its passage through the Massachusetts Legislature. The bill was signed into law by former Governor Charlie Baker in December 2022.