Voting Rights monitoring for Latino voters ends in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mass - The U.S. Department of Justice is ending its four years of monitoring Springfield elections on behalf of Latino voters.

Springfield City Solicitor Edward Pikula said Monday the department ended its Voting Rights case against Springfield last week and said the city has complied with a federal court settlement to properly assist Latino voters.

In 2006, the Justice Department filed the suit accusing the city of discriminating against Spanish-speaking voters by failing to provide enough assistance at polling stations.

Since then, the city has hired bilingual poll workers and changed its nine-seat at-large city council to a mixture of wards and at-large seats.

In November, voters elected a number of Latino and black candidates to city council and school committee.

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Information from: The Springfield Republican, http://www.masslive.com/news/