Advocacy group will monitor voting process

LOWELL -- The city elections next month will be closely watched by a New York-based voter advocacy group that cited problems in the 2004 elections that allegedly prevented Cambodian Americans from voting.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund said the problems in Lowell involved names that were missing from the list of registered voters, in some cases because the people had not participated in the city census. The voters should have received provisional ballots, which would have allowed them to vote, but were instead turned away or told they should go to City Hall.

Glenn Magpantay, an attorney for the advocacy group, said the organization will deploy volunteers at polling places to monitor the voting process and interview voters. ''We want to make sure there is compliance with the law," he said. ''Every person should have the right to vote."

City election officials said the problem resulted from a misunderstanding. Thomas A. Wirtanen, chairman of the Election Commission, said the provisional ballots were inadvertently kept at the commission's office at City Hall and not distributed to the polling places. He said the mix-up will not occur in the upcoming election.

''It was a gigantic misunderstanding," he said, adding that the ballots would be translated into Khmer. ''We were under the understanding that all provisional balloting would be handled in the election office. This time, we will have them at all polling locations."

ALEXANDER REID