DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
TESTIMONIES
LINKS

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
As of 2002, Boston is a "majority minority" city. Yet, largely minority communities such as those in the Heart of the City are poorly represented in city and state government. This is a result, in part, of a much lower voter turnout rate in voting precincts in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan than in other largely white Boston precincts. Recent efforts to increase voter registration and voter participation in city and state elections have proven effective in the Heart of the City, but the gap remains significant. Some Heart of the City residents argue that the 2002 redistricting process is likely to make the election of minorities to state and local government even more challenging.

Although not a majority minority neighborhood, Roslindale also lacks representation in city government. In 2002, no Roslindale resident held an elected office at any level of government. As Carter Wilke, a Roslindale resident and former advisor to Mayor Menino, pointed out in a Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association newsletter, Roslindale is divided between two state senators who do not live in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is also split among four different state representatives. Wilke wrote, "Political boundaries have been drawn in a way that fragments the community, dilutes its voice, and discourages different areas of the neighborhood from working together on common causes at a time when the community is growing more diverse."

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
Political power and representation among minorities in the Heart of the City:
As of 2002, only five out of Boston's 17 districts are mostly minority residents. The redistricting process, which was completed in 2002, resulted in the loss of three majority minority districts in the Heart of the City, while the 12th Suffolk District became 15% whiter, losing its majority minority status.

Before redistricting, most voting-age residents in the 11th, 12th, and 15th Suffolk Districts were minorities. When the new boundaries were drawn, District 11 (Liz Malia) changed from 62% minority to 49% minority; District 12 (Thomas Finneran) became 15% whiter; and District 15 (Fitzgerald) shifted from 54% to 41% minority. Meanwhile in the 6th Suffolk District (African American Democrat Shirley Owens-Hicks), the minority population rose from 83% to 98%. The state's political leadership is entirely white (Cindy Rodriguez, "Redistricting aids incumbents, but hurts minorities," The Boston Globe, Oct. 13, 2002).

On February 24, 2004 the Federal court panel ruled that the Massachusetts House of Representative’s Boston district map violates the Voting Rights Act because it dilutes the power of the city’s black voters. State legislators have been ordered to redraw the city’s district lines, but to be mindful of not undermining the votes of other minority groups in the redistricting process. This is of particular concern for neighborhood leaders in Roslindale, who worry that because it is a racially diverse community, it will be split into a variety of districts. For years, Roslindale had been parceled out into four district seats. However, the 2001 redistricting plan gave the neighborhood a stronger voice by reducing its representatives down to two. Now, Roslindale’s leaders worry that the new redistricting plan will retract the strengthened representation (Michael Jonas, 'Roslindale Writes to Avert Divisive Wrong,” The Boston Globe, March 14,2004).

Relatively low voter turnout and voter registration in minority precincts:
In the November 2002 election, there was a significant increase in minority voters from Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. According to Boston VOTE, which works to encourage high voter turnout and a fair democratic process, neighborhoods of color, including the largely minority Mattapan and Roxbury, made larger gains in voter turnout than other Boston neighborhoods. In Franklin Field, there are only 695 registered voters out of about 1,800 voting-age residents. Residents cast only 199 ballots for the September 2002 primary (Sarah Schweitzer, "A powerless precinct in political heyday, district a hotspot; now, residents say their votes ignored," The Boston Globe, Oct. 27, 2002). Efforts to get out the vote in this neighborhood have, however, yielded some results. In 1990, the 14 Dorchester/Mattapan precincts east of Franklin Park and Blue Hill Avenue both north and south of Franklin Field (Ward 14, Precincts 1 through 14) averaged 45.5% voter turnout while in 2000, these precincts averaged 66.6% voter turnout.

In Ward 14, which runs along Blue Hill Avenue from Grove Hall to Wellington Hill and includes the Four Corners neighborhood, the voter turnout in 2002 represented a 36.7% increase since 1998. Mattapan residents, especially Haitian and Jamaican immigrants, have also voted in far greater numbers in recent years. Between 1996 and 2000, voter turnout in Mattapan increased by 23%. The number of registered voters in Mattapan's precincts rose from 9,039 to 10,574, an increase of 1,535 voters, according to a Boston Globe analysis of voting and Census data (Cindy Rodriguez, "A new Caribbean force with little notice," The Boston Globe, Oct. 7, 2002).

These numbers have continued to increase. For example, between the 1998 November election and the one in 2003, there was a 123.21 percent change in votes cast in Ward 14. Overall, in Boston there was an 11.83 percent increase in the number of votes in 2003 compared with 1999. This was in large part attributed to the numbers of residents who came out to vote for minority candidate Felx D. Arroyo.

Residents in Dorchester attribute these changes to aggressive voting campaigns that began in August 2002 and were lead by nonpartisan organizations such as ACORN, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, and Dunk the Vote. The groups were active at MBTA stations and busy intersections and used direct tactics such as phone calls and going door-to-door to encourage citizens to vote. Some groups even provided rides to the polls (Chris Lovett, "Emerging Ethnic Vote Brings New Dynamic to Neighborhood Polls," Dorchester Reporter, Dec. 12, 2002).

The groups still have a long battle ahead. In 2000, 65% of Boston's whitest precincts were registered to vote, while 36% were registered in predominantly minority precincts (Brian C. Mooney, "Politics and equal opportunity; Bay State's minority representation lagging," The Boston Globe, Oct. 15, 2002).

Overall increase in voter turnout:
Across the Heart of the City there was an increase in the turnout of registered voters between 1990 and 2000. In 1990, the five Roxbury voting precincts northeast of Franklin Park (Ward 12, Precincts 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9) averaged a 55.88% voter turnout. In 2000, these precincts averaged a 69.6% voter turnout.

Dorchester/ Mattapan:
In 1990, the 14 Dorchester/Mattapan precincts east of Franklin Park and Blue Hill Avenue both north and south of Franklin Field (Ward 14, Precincts 1 through 14) averaged 45.5% voter turnout. In 1990, these precincts averaged 66.6% voter turnout.

Roslindale/ West Roxbury:
In 1990, the three precincts south and southeast of the Arnold Arboretum, in Roslindale and parts of West Roxbury (Ward 20, Precincts 1, 4, and 6) averaged a 74.9% voter turnout. In 2000, these precincts averaged a 78.6% voter turnout.

Roslindale along Washington Street:
In 1990, the average turnout of registered voter for the two Roslindale precincts along Washington Street south of the Forest Hills MBTA Station (Ward 19, Precincts 11 and 13) was 65.7%. In 2000, the average for these precincts was 72.2%.

Jamaica Plain north of Forest Hills Station:
In 1990, the average voting rate for the three precincts of Jamaica Plain that lie south of the Arborway and extends into Roslindale to the south (Ward 19, Precincts 7 and 12; Ward 18, Precinct 7) was 72.9%. In 2000, the average voting rate for these precincts was 77.3%.

Jamaica Plain south of Forest Hills Station:
In 1990, the average voting rate for the precincts of Jamaica Plain that lie between Franklin Park and the Arnold Arboretum, north of the Forest Hills Station (Ward 19, Precincts 2-6, and 8; Ward 11, Precinct 5-10) was 70.9%. In 2000, the average voting rate for these precincts was 85.5%.

(Source: Boston Vote).

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TESTIMONIES:
"It's not that people were indifferent. They did not feel empowered that their vote mattered" (Daphne Germain, volunteer for the Greater Boston Interfaith Initiative who participated in a successful effort to improve voter turnout in Dorchester in 2002, from an article by Chris Lovett, Dorchester Reporter, Dec. 12, 2002).

"The nights before the election -- oh my god, it was unbelievable. Blue Hill Avenue was cut off and all you could see was trucks with signs. And everyone was there -- the Italians, the Irish. And every politician" (Janice Bernstein, remembering civic involvement along Blue Hill Avenue in the Franklin Field neighborhood in the 1950s).

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LINKS:
Boston Vote: http://www.bostonvote.org/index.html 

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