Voting Rights in Lowell

In the City of Lowell, a committee has been tasked with examining and potentially recommending a change to the election system, according to the Lowell Sun.

Oren Sellstrom, litigation director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, said it is too soon to tell how seriously the city officials are taking the need for election reform: “Certainly we’re optimistic that one way or the other the current electoral system is going to change. Our clients want the change to happen. Whether that happens through court order or some kind of voluntary settlement is less important,” said Mr. Sellstrom.

In a separate and related article in the Lowell Sun featuring election models from other cities, Mr. Sellstrom noted that: “the problem really is that the playing field itself is not level in Lowell. You’ve got the situation where folks, particularly in the Asian and Latino communities, feel like their votes don’t count because they are canceled out each and every time by the majority voting bloc.”