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Supporters of a bill enabling people to register to vote as they cast their ballots are mounting another push for the long-sought reform as a key legislative deadline approaches and another election season unfolds in Massachusetts.

But the bills face a looming Feb. 5 deadline — known as Joint Rule 10 — to report them favorably out of legislative committees to be considered in the current two-year session. Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, one of the groups pushing for the changes, said lawmakers are running out of time.”

"Election Day registration will help protect the fundamental right of every American to have their vote counted," Wilmot told a gathering of volunteers who visited the Statehouse on Tuesday to lobby for the bills. "It's a fail-safe to allow eligible voters to cast their ballots. It has been working well for 40 years across the country."

Assistant Director at Common Cause Massachusetts, Kristina Mensik, says currently voters must comply with a 20-day cutoff for voter registration which deprives residents of their right to vote each election cycle.

Kristina Mensik, assistant director of nonprofit election advocacy group Common Cause Massachusetts, said with the current voting age at 18, many citizens gain their suffrage just as they are moving out of their home. . .