4,000 new citizens registered to vote by immigrant advocacy group

BOSTON (AP) - The largest immigrant advocacy group in New England has helped 4,000 naturalized citizens living in Massachusetts register as voters in the Nov. 6 election.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition said Wednesday that's the largest number of immigrants it has registered as voters in its 25-year-old history.

The naturalized citizens were registered between late last spring and Wednesday, the deadline for Massachusetts residents to enter voter rolls.

MIRA representatives attended 20 naturalization ceremonies in Boston, Lowell, Worcester and Malden to register the newest Americans as voters. Others participating in the initiative were religious groups, voter advocacy groups, representatives of immigrant communities, labor unions and nonprofit groups.

The Immigration Policy Center says naturalized Americans represent about 12 percent of registered voters in Massachusetts, including their children born in the United States since 1965.