New voting technology prompts move of three South End polling places to Cathedral High gym 

The Boston Board of Election Commissioners recently announced that three South End precincts will have their polling locations moved to the Cathedral High School Gymnasium, located at 1336 Washington Street, beginning with the April 17 Special Preliminary Election for City Council District Two.

The Board voted to move Ward 3 Precinct 7, which formerly voted at the YWCA of Boston at 40 Berkeley Street; Ward 8 Precinct 1, which formerly voted at the community room of the Cathedral Housing Project at 1472 Washington Street; and Ward 9 Precinct 1, which voted at the ETC Building at 80 West Dedham Street.

The impetus for the moves came when Secretary of State William F. Galvin designated the AutoMARK Voter Assist Terminal, produced by Vogue Election Products & Services of Glen Ellyn, Ill., as the ballot marking system to be used in the Commonwealth to enable disabled voters to mark their ballots independently.

Vogue’s Web site describes AutoMARK as “designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are blind, vision-impaired or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot in the usual way.”

While implementing the AutoMARK system aims to improve accessibility for disabled voters, the new technology will require additional space, making the Cathedral location more desirable, according to Geraldine Cuddyer, chair of the Board of Election Commissioners.

“The Cathedral Gymnasium, located at the corner of Union Park Street, has ample space to accommodate all three precincts, and is a superior location to accommodate disabled voters,” said Cuddyer. “The spaces we are leaving would have been extremely tight with the additional marking device and table being introduced. When the opportunity to move to this wonderful new facility at Cathedral opened up, the Board could not let this chance pass by.”

As required by law, all registered voters in the impacted precincts will be notified by mail of the change of location, with additional information disseminated through mailings to community organizations, churches and civic groups, the Board said. These notices will also be translated into Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese.

The Boston Election Department has relocated 16 precincts across the city over the past three years, primarily to improve access for disabled voters. The Department said it anticipates making more changes to polling locations in the coming year now that the AutoMARK apparatus has been introduced.

Irish Immigration Center makes a “St. Patrick’s Day plea” for New Bedford raid victims

With Boston’s Irish community focused on celebrating their fabled heritage as St. Patrick’s Day rolled around last weekend, the Irish Immigration Center urged their brethren to stay focused amid their merriment on the families affected by the raid of leather goods manufacturer Michael Bianco Inc. earlier this month.

In emphasizing the importance of supporting the New Bedford families, the Center drew back on Irish history — namely that of St. Patrick himself, who was, in fact, an immigrant.

Born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, Patrick was carried into captivity at the age of 16 by Irish marauders and sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory in what is now the Irish county of Antrim, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. The story goes that after six years tending Milchu’s flocks, Patrick escaped back to Britain, only to return later to the land of his former enslavement as a member of the priesthood, eventually becoming its patron saint.

Drawing on that linkage and the auspices of community charity, the IIC accepted gifts of baby formula, food, bottles and diapers at its Boston offices, and staff and volunteers delivered the donations to New Bedford last Saturday.

“St. Patrick’s Day is one of the biggest immigrant celebrations in the American calendar, but this year the immigrant community is despairing,” said Sister Lena Deevy, executive director of the Irish Immigration Center. “Immigrant families in New Bedford have been torn apart and lives destroyed.”

To the Guatemalan and Salvadoran communities hit hardest by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, Deevy promised the Irish Immigration Center and the Irish immigrant community would “stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart with the immigrant community of New Bedford at this time.”

“We stand with you in the battle for fairness, for decency, for family and for justice,” she said.

While the holiday has passed and the donation has been delivered, Deevy acknowledged that the battle would unfortunately continue.

“Tell anyone around the world the story of misery we have witnessed since last Tuesday morning and they wouldn’t believe they were hearing about the United States of America,” said Deevy. “Affected families should be reunited immediately and mothers flown back to Massachusetts. Our immigration system is broken and critically in need of reform.”

The Irish Immigration Center plans to continue its drive to support the immigrant families affected by the New Bedford raid, and is still accepting charitable financial donations, which are tax deductible.

Checks should be made out to “Michael Bianco Disaster Fund” and sent to: Michael Bianco Disaster Fund, c/o Sovereign Bank, 1 Sovereign Place, New Bedford, MA 02746.

Bouncer violence law named for slain Hub student heads for Beacon Hill

“Imette’s Law,” a City of Boston home rule petition intended to curb bouncer violence on patrons, is headed to Beacon Hill for final passage after being signed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino last Wednesday.

The law — proposed by City Councilor Michael F. Flaherty and unanimously passed Feb. 28 by the Boston City Council — requires nightclub and bar owners to conduct background checks for all bouncers. It also mandates third party training for establishments with three or more violations in a 12-month period.

“Too many times we have seen bouncer-on-patron violence that has resulted in serious injury. I will be working to win support for this law on Beacon Hill,” Flaherty said.

According to Flaherty, the Boston Police Department has recorded close to 100 such cases over the last three years, despite the altercations ranking among the most unreported incidents in the city.

The law is named after Imette St. Guillen, a Mission Hill native and Boston Latin School graduate who was studying criminology at New York City’s John Jay Community College when she was found beaten, raped and murdered in Brooklyn in February 2006. She was 24.

Darryl Littlejohn, a 41-year-old bouncer at The Falls, the bar where St. Guillen was last seen alive, has been charged with her murder. In their investigation, New York City police found that Littlejohn had an extensive criminal record and was not licensed to be a bouncer. He has denied any role in St. Guillen’s death.

An attorney for the Saint-Guillen family said the family is “truly grateful for Councilor Flaherty’s hard work” and looks forward to “working with members of the State House and the governor to sign this legislation into law.”