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Chinese American Citizens Deserve Full Voting Rights
edited reprint from the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) Boston newsletter
posted 8/28/07
In September of 2003, the CPA filed a complaint with the City of Boston
and Secretary of State about voting rights violations inside Chinatown
polls. For a year and a half, the City of Boston and the Secretary repeatedly
stated that there were no complaints filed of voting rights violations
in Chinatown. Consequentially, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) came
to Boston to observe a special election and filed a lawsuit against the
City of Boston for violating the voting rights of limited English-speaking
Chinese and Vietnamese voters. In October 2005, the US District Court
finalized a Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Boston and DOJ
to provide increased bilingual assistance to Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese-speaking
voters, and launched Chinese and Vietnamese bilingual ballots. In the
November 2005 election, the City of Boston printed Chinese bilingual ballots
without transliterated candidate names, but committed to translate the
names in the future.
Massachusett Secretary of State William Galvin is currently opposing the
inclusion of Chinese names for candidates on the Chinese bilingual ballot
for Boston voters. CPA, the Chinatown Resident Association, members of
the Massachusetts Asian American Commission, Asian Pacific American Agenda
Coalition, city councilors Sam Yoon and Felix Arroyo all have called for
a 100 percent bilingual ballot and are currently campaigning for fully
bilingual ballots.
