Norwood Shuffled in State Senate Redistricting Proposals to Fix Constitutional Flaw-August 1, 1973

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Senate Democrats shuffled Norwood‘s voting precincts to patch up an unconstitutional geographical gap in a controversial new Wellesley, Walpole, and Hyde Park senatorial district. The oversight came to light when Ann Jacobs, a reporter at The Patriot Ledger State House Bureau, discovered that the proposed district’s towns were not contiguous—specifically, Canton and Walpole were physically separated by two South Norwood precincts that had been assigned to Sen. Arthur Lewis of Boston.

When Ann Jacobs brought the defect to the attention of Rep. George C. Keverian of Everett, co-chairman of the Redistricting Commission, it revealed that it was impossible to travel from Hyde Park to Wellesley without crossing through an entirely different senatorial district. Realizing the mechanical error during a five-hour debate, Senate Majority Leader Joseph DiCarlo of Revere, co-chairman of the commission, called a recess to draft a corrective amendment. To fix the non-contiguous boundary, the amendment shifted Precinct F—comprising all of Norwood east of Route 1—into the new district.

The broader redistricting plan—designed to establish a black senatorial district in Boston—was ultimately approved by the Senate on a 23 to 9 vote and sent to the House. However, the plan drew sharp criticism from local lawmakers because it split Norwood across multiple senatorial districts and combined suburban towns with Boston’s Hyde Park. Sen. John Quinlan of Norwood decried the plan as a fiasco, declaring that the people of Norwood were being carved up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey, a sentiment echoed by Senate Minority Whip David H. Locke of Wellesley. Two separate attempts by Sens. Timilty and Locke to consolidate Norwood into a single district were defeated. The final voting lineup against the plan included Sens. Quinlan, Timilty, Locke, and John Aylmer of Barnstable.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger