Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. takes Bay State politicians to task

[MelissaB]

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. takes Bay State politicians to task

By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | February 11, 2006



Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. yesterday used an appearance at Freedom House in Roxbury to chide the state's politicians and to endorse a Democrat who hopes to topple Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

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Many in the crowd stopped eating their eggs, bacon, and breakfast potatoes to applaud Jackson's statements at the nonpartisan town hall meeting, which was sponsored by Freedom House and the voting rights organization Dunk the Vote.

Jackson also endorsed John Bonifaz for secretary of state, saying that Bonifaz was uniquely qualified for the state's top elections position because of his decade of working to improve voting rights across the country.

Bonifaz told the crowd that, if elected, he would work to improve voting machines here. He also chastised Boston and other Massachusetts communities for failing to provide adequate voting rights protections; Boston settled a Justice Department lawsuit last year alleging voting rights violations.

''Massachusetts ought to be a model for free and fair elections throughout the country," said Bonifaz, the lead lawyer in a 2003 lawsuit challenging President Bush's constitutional authority to invade Iraq. ''The state needs to be enforcing the Voting Rights Act, not the Bush administration."

More: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles... /