US is said to probe Massachusetts Elections over handicapped access

[Ian David]

US is said to probe Bay State elections
At issue is access by disabled voters

By Donovan Slack and Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | November 30, 2006

The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the state's failure to ensure that equipment for disabled voters was provided at polling places across Massachusetts during this year's elections, according to three people who spoke with federal investigators this week.

Two investigators from the voting section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division -- trial lawyer James "Nick" Boeving and special litigation counsel Susana Lorenzo-Giguere -- are to arrive in Boston today to begin gathering documents and conducting interviews, according to one of the two people.

Boeving is planning to inquire about the state's failure to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act, which requires that every polling place have at least one machine that allows disabled people to vote privately and independently, said Brenda Wright, managing attorney at the Boston-based National Voting Rights Institute. Wright received a call from a Department of Justice lawyer Tuesday.

Problems with access for disabled voters would be just the latest accusation to plague election officials in Massachusetts, where irregularities in four cities have been investigated in recent years. Boston agreed last year to federal monitoring after the Justice Department accused the city of failing to protect the rights of voters with limited English skills. In September's primary, workers failed to count hundreds of ballots, and in the final election some 30 polling places ran out of ballots.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/11/30/us_is_said_to_probe_bay_state_elections/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News