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Boston Asian American Voters Win Bilingual Ballots (2 of 3)
The backbone of the lawsuit was formed by the individual Chinese, Vietnamese, and Latino voters who came forward to provide detailed evidence of difficulties they faced in exercising their voting rights.
Some Chinatown voters had made anonymous complaints as far back as 2003, when the Chinese Progressive Association held workshops about voters' rights and launched a public campaign to demand changes at the polls. These same voters made the decision to come forward and provide public testimony for the lawsuit. Others came forward with statements about the 2004 elections. Chinese, Vietnamese and
Latino community groups played a core role in gathering evidence and identifying voter witnesses.
After Mayor Menino publicly vowed to fight the lawsuit in court, four city councilors, who were among the named defendants, stepped forward as Boston officials to call for negotiation of voting rights remedies. The Boston Chinatown Resident Association, the Chinese Progressive Association, and housing rights group City Life/Vida Urbana joined four individual voters to file a motion to become plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Community members were represented by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Greater Boston Legal Services, and the firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manges. The proposed agreement was announced a few days after the community filed its motion to intervene.
