LWVMA Action Alert: Contact Rep. Tucker and Sen. Lovely to support Election Day Registration. See details below.
Part 2 of our Ward 6 election lawsuit analysis is coming soon! (So many facts to check!) But we wanted to address one rumor we heard floating around. The new Massachusetts automatic voter registration (AVR) law does NOT apply to voter registration forms filled out at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). DTA is not part of AVR at this time: only the Registry of Motor Vehicles, MassHealth, and the Health Connector are participating agencies.
For other state agencies to join AVR, they must meet certain minimum but serious requirements and sign an MOU with the Secretary of the Commonwealth (SOC). The SOC has to agree that adding the new agency to AVR “will materially increase voter registration or the accuracy of the register of voters” and the SOC has to train the agency’s staff and fund the training, materials, and equipment needed. So it’s not at all simple to add more agencies, although it’s theoretically possible.
So, for the time being, people who fill out voter registration forms at DTA and other non-AVR agencies may continue to run into trouble the first time they vote, if they don’t bring their ID with proof of residency. Additionally, every election, Massachusetts disenfranchises thousands of its own citizens by denying eligible voters the ability to register or update their information on Election Day. Two out of three of those prevented from casting a ballot are actually registered but rendered ineligible because their registration contains simple and fixable errors.
Election Day registration (EDR) is a basic reform with a 40-year proven record that has allowed millions of voters across 20 states that have implemented it to cast a ballot by registering or updating their registration to vote on election day. Now we have to act to ensure that EDR legislation gets sent out of committee and to a vote!
Here’s how you can help:
Participate in the League’s EDR Lobby Day on 28 January.
If you can’t go to the State House, contact Salem’s Rep. Paul Tucker (617-722-2070) and Sen. Joan Lovely (617-722-1410) to thank them for already having signed onto EDR bills and ask them to contact leadership and the members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws to voice their support. You don’t need to ask for specific bill numbers, because the committee will likely combine several bills into one bill. Just remind them that the League and you want EDR to come out of committee! (While you’re at it, you can put in the same good word for the bills to expand early voting to all state elections, including primaries.)
Read the LWVMA testimony on EDR and early voting. (Note: There will be early voting for the presidential primary on 3 March 2020, even though it is not required by law. LWVS will share details for Salem ASAP.)