By Paul Tuthill
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Springfield, MA – The U.S. Department of Justice will have observers at several polling places in Springfield Massachusetts during tomorrow's municipal election. It will mark the second time in recent years that federal authorities have monitored elections in Springfield to watch for possible violations of the voting rights of minorities. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
The U.S. Department of Justice is sending election observers to Springfield at the request of a city councilor and several civil rights organizations, who claim there were voter rights violations during the preliminary election in Springfield on September 20th. Springfield City Counilor Zaida Luna , who represents the predominately Hispanic Ward One , says there were multiple instances in which would-be voters were given wrong information, wrongly asked to produce identification , and were not given provisional ballots when there was uncertainty about their voter registration status.
Luna's request for a justice department investigation was joined by the local chapter of the N A A C P, the ACLU and the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice.
Luna said voter turnout in wards that have a high minority population is a third what it is in other wards in Springfield, and she believes serious voter rights violations are part of the explanation for the disparity.
Springfield Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola says the allegations made to the Justice Department about the September 20th preliminary election in Springfield are exaggerated and in some cases not true.
The Justice Department observed elections in Springfield between 2007 and 2009 after the city was sued by federal authorities for violations of the Federal Voting Rights Act involving non-English speaking voters.
The Hispanic population in Springfield , and statewide in Massachusetts, grew by 44 percent in the last decade, according to the 2010 census. Hispanics make up just under 40 percent of Springfield' s population now. One of the candidates for mayor on tomorrow's ballot, Jose Tosado, is vieing to become the city's first Latino mayor..
Tosado is facing two term incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno, who says he is confident city elections are being run properly.
Springfield's election commissioner says power has been restored and debris left from last week's historic October snowstorm has been cleared away from the locations of all 64 polling places.