Mass. Elections Official Clashes With Chief Justice

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin is blasting U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for statements he made during this week's Supreme Court arguments over a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

During those arguments, Justice Roberts said Massachusetts has the worst ratio of white voter turnout to black voter turnout of any state in the U.S.

Roberts also said Massachusetts has the worst disparity between whites and blacks in voter registration.

Galvin told WBUR Morning Edition host Bob Oakes that neither statement is true.

"I'm disturbed, first of all, that he is distorting information. You would expect better conduct from the Chief Justice of the United States. I'm a lawyer, he's a lawyer - lawyers are not supposed to provide disinformation in the course of a case. It's supposed to be based on truth. What's really distressing is the deeper we looked into the facts, the more of a distortion his comments are," Galvin said.