Chief Justice John Roberts Used An 'Old Slur' Against Massachusetts, Official Says

The top elections official in Massachusetts is attacking Supreme Court Justice John Roberts for saying the state has the nation's lowest turnout rate for black voters, the Boston Globe reports.

"Do you know which state has the worst ratio of white voter turnout to African-American voter turnout?" Roberts asked during an argument this week. "Massachusetts."

Roberts made the comment when the high court was hearing arguments on the fate of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act, a major civil rights law passed to make sure minorities could actually get out to the polls.

That law requires nine states (mostly in the South), and parts of seven others, to get permission from the federal government before making any changes to their election laws. Its opponents say the law implies the South can't be trusted not to be racist.

But Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin says Roberts' statement that a northern state is the worst at turning out black voters just isn't true.

A review of U.S. Census data from 2010 shows there were similar – and possibly bigger – gaps between black and white voters in Washington, Arizona, and Minnesota, the Globe reported.

"The concept of black communities in Massachusetts not voting is an old slur, and it's not true," Galvin told the Globe. "I guess the point [Roberts] is trying to make is Mississippi is doing so much better they don't need the Voting Rights Act. He can still relay that conclusion, but he shouldn't be using phony statistics. It's deceptive, and it's truly disturbing."