The Letter
June 20, 2024
President Derrick Johnson
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
Dear President Johnson,
As a resident of Springfield, MA, attorney, former At Large-City Councilor for 10 years, recent candidate for Mayor and active member of the NAACP, I am requesting your immediate attention to the egregious voter suppression that is taking place in our city without regard through a coordinated effort by the current Mayor, Domenic Sarno, and his appointed election Commissioner, Gladys Oyola.
According to the attached analysis of voter activity conducted by the Pioneer Valley Project, a local non profit organization, Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Oyola have inactivated over 20,000 residents (almost ⅕ of the registered voters in Springfield) and have made little if any effort to notify those individuals of their status for the upcoming election and get them re-enrolled.
Considering that Springfield, the 3rd largest city in the Commonwealth is a majority minority city (20.8% African American, 47.5% Latino, and 28.9% White), inactivating such a large volume of residents is inevitably going to have an adverse impact on communities of color.
What makes these numbers even more appalling however, is that 99 percent or 20,362 of the residents who have been taken off the voting rolls come from Wards 1-4 in the city. Even worse and worthy of national attention, in those same 4 wards that have been disproportionately impacted reside the highest concentration of Black and Latino residents as well as the most impoverished. In comparison, in wards 5-8 where more affluent and white residents live, only 145 people have been inactivated.
In Ward 1, which has the highest number of registered latino voters there were 5,847 people inactivated. The amount of inactivated voters in Ward 1 is 167 times higher than Ward 7, which has the highest number of white registered voters. Yet, somehow, Ward 7 only managed to have 35 people scratched from the voting rolls.
Similarly, in Ward 4, which has the highest number of African American registered voters, there were 3,746 people inactivated, which is 107 times higher than Ward 7.
When comparing Springfield to surrounding cities in Western Massachusetts and population is accounted for, Springfield is deactivating voters at much higher rates than other communities. Additionally, when you look at the data from Holyoke and Chicopee there are no glaring discrepancies between wards, which cannot be said for Springfield.
Thus far, our local Chapter of the NAACP of Greater Springfield has been mute on the voter suppression taking place even though protecting the right to vote is one of the national NAACP’s top priorities for 2024. Unfortunately, because our local president, Bishop Talbert Swan, receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Mayor, he is essentially purchased and can never adequately advocate on behalf of the members on any issue that is a direct indictment on the Mayor, including voter suppression.
Recognizing the compromising position of our local president and understanding the gravity of what is occurring to our residents, I am reaching out to you for your assistance. I will also be making a similar plea to the Department of Justice as well as the State Attorney General's office. Someone must investigate these irregularities and shine a light on what appears to be a blatant case of voter suppression by an administration that seeks to hold on to power at all cost.
In the coming days, I plan to reach out to advocacy organizations in the city and local, state and federal elected officials. I will be challenging them all, especially those who represent the wards impacted most, to issue a statement calling for an investigation on behalf of their constituents.
I’m hopeful that you too will join the call for action.
Sincerely,
Attorney Justin Hurst
The Letter
June 20, 2024
President Derrick Johnson
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
Dear President Johnson,
As a resident of Springfield, MA, attorney, former At Large-City Councilor for 10 years, recent candidate for Mayor and active member of the NAACP, I am requesting your immediate attention to the egregious voter suppression that is taking place in our city without regard through a coordinated effort by the current Mayor, Domenic Sarno, and his appointed election Commissioner, Gladys Oyola.
According to the attached analysis of voter activity conducted by the Pioneer Valley Project, a local non profit organization, Mayor Sarno and Commissioner Oyola have inactivated over 20,000 residents (almost ⅕ of the registered voters in Springfield) and have made little if any effort to notify those individuals of their status for the upcoming election and get them re-enrolled.
Considering that Springfield, the 3rd largest city in the Commonwealth is a majority minority city (20.8% African American, 47.5% Latino, and 28.9% White), inactivating such a large volume of residents is inevitably going to have an adverse impact on communities of color.
What makes these numbers even more appalling however, is that 99 percent or 20,362 of the residents who have been taken off the voting rolls come from Wards 1-4 in the city. Even worse and worthy of national attention, in those same 4 wards that have been disproportionately impacted reside the highest concentration of Black and Latino residents as well as the most impoverished. In comparison, in wards 5-8 where more affluent and white residents live, only 145 people have been inactivated.
In Ward 1, which has the highest number of registered latino voters there were 5,847 people inactivated. The amount of inactivated voters in Ward 1 is 167 times higher than Ward 7, which has the highest number of white registered voters. Yet, somehow, Ward 7 only managed to have 35 people scratched from the voting rolls.
Similarly, in Ward 4, which has the highest number of African American registered voters, there were 3,746 people inactivated, which is 107 times higher than Ward 7.
When comparing Springfield to surrounding cities in Western Massachusetts and population is accounted for, Springfield is deactivating voters at much higher rates than other communities. Additionally, when you look at the data from Holyoke and Chicopee there are no glaring discrepancies between wards, which cannot be said for Springfield.
Thus far, our local Chapter of the NAACP of Greater Springfield has been mute on the voter suppression taking place even though protecting the right to vote is one of the national NAACP’s top priorities for 2024. Unfortunately, because our local president, Bishop Talbert Swan, receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Mayor, he is essentially purchased and can never adequately advocate on behalf of the members on any issue that is a direct indictment on the Mayor, including voter suppression.
Recognizing the compromising position of our local president and understanding the gravity of what is occurring to our residents, I am reaching out to you for your assistance. I will also be making a similar plea to the Department of Justice as well as the State Attorney General's office. Someone must investigate these irregularities and shine a light on what appears to be a blatant case of voter suppression by an administration that seeks to hold on to power at all cost.
In the coming days, I plan to reach out to advocacy organizations in the city and local, state and federal elected officials. I will be challenging them all, especially those who represent the wards impacted most, to issue a statement calling for an investigation on behalf of their constituents.
I’m hopeful that you too will join the call for action.
Sincerely,
Attorney Justin Hurst