Philadelphia Opposes U.S. Observers at Polls

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | October 27, 2006 | Marcia Gelbart

[Tamzee]

Two weeks before Election Day, the city is fighting an attempt by the U.S. Justice Department to appoint federal observers for Philadelphia elections beginning Nov. 7 and lasting past next year's presidential race, until the end of 2009.

The effort to appoint the observers stems from a lawsuit filed by the federal government 14 days ago alleging that the city has violated the rights of its Hispanic voters.

Specifically, it charges that the city hasn't adequately recruited and trained bilingual poll workers, failed to provide sufficient election-related materials in Spanish, and prohibited Hispanic voters with limited English from choosing someone to help them inside the voting booth, which law permits.

"The record in this case clearly demonstrates that the city does not exercise sufficient control over its voting places to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act," the lawsuit states. It alludes to 50 Hispanic city residents who encountered problems in elections here, most since 2003. One, Myrna Cruz, testified that a poll worker forced her to vote for John Street for mayor in 2003, when she wanted to vote for Sam Katz. Others said they were ridiculed by poll workers who asked why they hadn't learned English.

The suit also says the city has no program to identify "the need for or the placement of Spanish-speaking poll workers and interpreters on election day" and that the city has paid people to be interpreters who don't speak Spanish.

City officials have called the allegations unfounded. A hearing has been scheduled for next Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District.

With the election fast approaching, the city has been struggling to implement new federal rules on handicapped access, as well as a new state law requiring dozens of city polling places to be moved (they can no longer be inside bars or elected officials' homes, for instance).

Combined with troubles encountered in May's primary, when hundreds of voting machines malfunctioned, and now the federal lawsuit, the resulting challenges for the Nov. 7 election are perhaps unprecedented, election officials say.

"Everything is culminating at the same time," City Commissioner Edgar Howard said. "Just be glad this year isn't a presidential year," he said, when voter turnout is typically at its highest.

In the case of the federal lawsuit, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the Democratic Party chairman, and other local Democrats see partisan politics at work.

He said the suit was filed so close to Nov. 7 "probably to suppress the [Democratic] vote" and help GOP candidates such as U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

Michael P. Meehan, general counsel for the city Republican Party, dismissed Brady's explanation. "That's part of the spin machine to generate turnout," he said. "We didn't generate this. We didn't make any complaints."

But both party leaders agree that the proposed federal intervention goes too far.

"That's a disgrace. The Hispanics have no problem with the interpreters," Brady said.

"We do think they are going beyond," Meehan said.

According to the lawsuit, about 6.6 percent of the city's voting-age population is Hispanic, and more than a third of those people - 25,660 - speak only limited English.

Since 1974, the city has provided translators at polling places where census data indicates Hispanics live. The Justice Department wants Spanish language assistance citywide.

"This is one of those issues where the remedy far exceeds any potential need," city Solicitor Romulo Diaz said, adding that in the Nov. 7 election, the city also will provide translations via telephone in 200 languages, including Spanish.

Stressing that federal observers could use their authority to enter polling booths while people are voting, Diaz said: "We think that is not only something that could be misunderstood - it could even have a chilling effect and intimidate the very voters the Justice Department says it is trying to support."

Yesterday, department spokeswoman Cynthia Magnuson said: "No federal observers would ever enter a voting booth unless specifically requested by and with the expressed permission of a voter, and to suggest otherwise is just untrue."

She said there are currently federal observers in 169 municipalities throughout the country, including, most recently, Boston and Springfield, Mass.

In the last two elections, Diaz, at the Justice Department's request, said he had given its officials credentials to access city voting places to observe what bilingual assistance and signage were provided.

Those officials were not granted permission to enter individual polling booths.

"There are still some issues that we need to improve upon," said City Councilman Juan Ramos, Council's only Hispanic member. "But the Latino people don't need federal agents on Election Day to see how they vote or get behind the curtain with them."

A nonpartisan voters' right advocacy group, the Delaware Valley Voter Registration Education Project, held a news conference yesterday opposing the government effort.

The city's nonprofit election watchdog, the Committee of Seventy, also has had concerns about a lack of Hispanic voter participation. During the May primary, the committee recruited local volunteers to survey what assistance Spanish-speaking voters received at polling places in Latino neighborhoods, mainly in the 7th, 18th, 19th and 33d Wards. The committee later shared those results with the Justice Department, which was already conducting its own review.

"I wouldn't call the information we provided them definitive," committee president Zach Stalberg said. But the findings - too few translators, and some with questionable language skills, and not enough bilingual polling-place officials - "suggested there might be problems."

Said Stalberg: "We think there are enough indications of problems here to merit federal observers... . In our view, it won't do any harm."

---------------------------------- Contact staff writer Marcia Gelbart at 215-854-2338 or mgelbart@phillynews.com.

[torchthemummy]

With the election fast approaching, the city has been struggling to implement new federal rules on handicapped access, as well as a new state law requiring dozens of city polling places to be moved (they can no longer be inside bars or elected officials' homes, for instance).

In elected officials' homes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It goes without saying that if those election officials were Republicans the screams to be heard from the left would be deafening.