Voting improvement

THE MENINO administration and the Justice Department averted a court showdown last week over minority voting rights in Boston. Now Secretary of State William Galvin, the state's leading election official, is left to deal with the thorny details of the breakthrough settlement agreement.

In July the federal government sued the city, alleging that local officials had discriminated against voters with limited English skills by skimping on bilingual poll workers and election materials written in foreign languages. The Justice Department even charged the city with improperly influencing the ballot choices of Asian voters and demanded that city officials sign a consent decree admitting wrongdoing. To its credit, the Menino administration stood up to the Justice Department, which had provided little proof of its harsh allegations. But Mayor Menino could not claim in good faith that his administration had done everything in its power to smooth the voting process for residents with limited English skills. Wisely, the parties stopped sparring and hashed out a reasonable settlement agreement.

The most dramatic aspect of the agreement calls for the city to provide Chinese and Vietnamese ballots in precincts where they are needed, as identified by the US Census. Currently, election law requires ballots to be written only in English and Spanish. The agreement requires the city to win approval of these changes by the Legislature at least 90 days before the Sept. 19, 2006, election.

The negotiated settlement, which includes training and recruitment of bilingual election workers, is a good deal for minority voters and the city. It spares the mayor from accusations of disenfranchising anybody during an election year. And it quiets critics of the Justice Department, who perceived federal officials as quick to sue on less than solid grounds. But it leaves many logistical questions for Galvin, who says he was not consulted adequately on the challenges of printing some statewide ballots in two additional languages.

Yesterday, Galvin's legal counsel wrote the Justice Department asking for detailed precinct information on the estimated 5,000 Chinese and 2,600 Vietnamese of voting age with limited English skills in Boston. Galvin sees implications for other areas of the state with significant Asian populations, such as Quincy and Lowell. And he worries that a changed voting system won't accommodate quick demographic changes.

Timely passage of the multilingual ballot legislation demands close cooperation among three key parties. Now that Justice Department and Boston officials are cozy, they should bring the secretary of state in from the cold.