NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Mayor Jon Mitchell said Tuesday that New Bedford will not provide the U.S. Department of Justice with its list of registered voters in response to what he described as a non-binding federal request, raising concerns about the scope and purpose of the administration’s election-related inquiries.
According to Mitchell, the city received a letter last month from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice requesting New Bedford’s registered-voter list. The department also indicated that it intended to send monitors to polling locations in the city to assess compliance with provisions of the Voting Rights Act intended to facilitate voting by people with limited English proficiency.
Mitchell said the request came as a surprise because the city has no reason to believe it has failed to comply with those federal requirements.
“The only explanation the Department offered for its inquiry was that the percentage of New Bedford’s residents with limited-English proficiency was 4.5 — which alone hardly makes New Bedford distinctive among American cities,” Mitchell said.
He also questioned the usefulness of the requested voter information, noting that voter-registration lists generally do not indicate whether an individual voter speaks English fluently or requires language assistance.
“It is difficult to understand how the city’s voter lists, which do not indicate how well any given voter speaks English, could shed light on whether the city is properly affording non-English speakers the opportunity to understand their ballots,” Mitchell said.
Mayor raises concerns over federal involvement
Mitchell characterized the request as potentially broader than a routine effort to determine compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
“While voter lists are ordinarily available upon request, I am concerned that the Department’s inquiry is not designed to determine compliance with the Voting Rights Act, and is rather a pretext for unwarranted federal intrusion into a locally-administered election,” he said.
The mayor also expressed concern that turning over the lists could discourage some residents from participating in elections or undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
“Given the well-established track record of the current presidential administration to question the validity of elections without a good faith basis, I am concerned that the disclosure of the voter lists might chill voter interest in the upcoming elections and cause some to question their integrity,” Mitchell said.
The city has therefore decided not to provide the requested voter lists to the Justice Department.
Constitutional authority over elections
The dispute comes against the backdrop of the division of authority over elections established by the U.S. Constitution.
Article I, Section 4, commonly known as the Elections Clause, gives state legislatures authority to determine the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections. The same provision gives Congress authority to make or alter those regulations by law.
That framework leaves election administration largely in the hands of state and local governments, while also permitting federal oversight in areas where Congress has enacted applicable laws. Federal constitutional amendments, including the 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments, and statutes such as the Voting Rights Act establish nationwide protections against discrimination in voting.
The constitutional framework does not, however, give the president unilateral authority to administer or change election procedures simply through executive action absent congressional or other lawful authority.
The Justice Department’s role in enforcing federal voting-rights laws is distinct from the president personally administering local elections. Whether the department’s request for New Bedford’s voter information falls within its statutory authority, and what consequences could follow from the city’s decision not to comply, would depend on the legal basis for the request and the specific provisions being investigated.
Mitchell urges voters to participate
Despite the dispute with the federal government, Mitchell emphasized that the city intends to continue administering elections under applicable state and federal law.
“As we always have, we will continue to administer safe, open and lawful elections in the City of New Bedford,” Mitchell said.
He urged registered voters to participate in the upcoming elections, including the September 1 primaries and the general election in November.
The mayor’s decision sets up a potential conflict between a locally administered election system and federal enforcement of national voting-rights protections, with the scope of the Justice Department’s authority likely to be central to any further dispute.
