In a modern, equitable democracy, every eligible voter must be able to make their voice heard at the ballot box.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed an enormous hurdle to accessible, equitable, and secure elections in 2020. Yet, Massachusetts citizens set voter participation records.
Voters were able to do so — and participate safely and securely — thanks to a package of reforms that we passed, including mail-in voting, expanded early voting options, and myriad changes that enabled election officials to facilitate secure elections. Those reforms must be made permanent.
The VOTES Act will do just that. It is a comprehensive elections bill that will allow Massachusetts citizens to keep the voting options that worked for them in fall 2020, and ensure novel elections infrastructure does not go to waste.
Building on the lessons of 2020 — that we must work actively to protect and strengthen our democracy, that the fight for racial equity is far from over, and that when elections are accessible, people vote — the VOTES Act does more. It includes badly-needed reforms to ensure eligible incarcerated voters have meaningful access to the ballot. It would bring Same Day Voter Registration to Massachusetts. It would ensure that Automatic Voter Registration, which we passed in 2018, is corrected to capture as many eligible voters as possible and ensure our voter registration rolls are up-to-date and secure.
The VOTES Act will build equitable, accessible, and secure elections in Massachusetts.
Our democracy works best when everyone can make their voice heard, and hold government accountable. The VOTES Act will ensure just that. It includes:
- Mail-in voting
- Expanded early voting options
- Same Day Registration
- Jail-based voting reforms
- Risk limiting audits
- Corrected Automatic Voter Registration
- A deadline to implement the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
Together, these reforms will improve equity and access to the ballot for all eligible voters, strengthen our elections infrastructure, and build more secure elections.
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Endorsements
The VOTES Act has received broad support by statewide and local organizations, labor unions, businesses, faith-based groups and more. See the full list:
ACLU MA
Action for Equity
Amalgamated Bank
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New England
American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts
American Promise
Amplify Latinx
Arise for Social Justice
Black Boston COVID19 Coalition
Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)
Black Economic Justice Institute
Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.
Boston Ten Point Coalition
Boston Ujima Project
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association
College Bound Dorchester
Common Cause Massachusetts
City Life / Vida Urbana
City Mission, Inc.
Coalition for a Better Acre
Coalition for Social Justice
Codman Square NDC
College Bound Dorchester
Community Action Works Campaigns
Conservation Law Foundation
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Edgartown Democratic Town Committee
Environmental League of Massachusetts
Equal Citizens Forward MA
Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution
Freedom House
Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association
Generation Citizen
Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center Inc.
Greater Boston Section-National Council of Negro Women
GSM Labor Council
Immigrants’ Assistance Center, Inc. (IAC)
Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard
Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition
Indivisible Outer Cape
iVOTE
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Jetpac Resource Center
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA)
La Colaborativa
La Comunidad, Inc.
Lawrence Partnership
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Lift Every Vote
League of Women Voters MA
Lowell Votes
Madison Park Development Corporation
MAPS-Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Mass Equality
Mass NOW
Mass. Assoc. of Community Development Corporations
Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement
Massachusetts Communities Action Network
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Peace Action
Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition
MASSCreative
MASSPIRG
MASSPIRG Students
MassVOTE
Massachusetts Voter Table
Microsoft
MITvote
More Than Words
NAACP-Boston Branch
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
Next Leadership Development Corporation
Nonprofit Vote
Planned Parenthood MA
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts
Progressive Massachusetts
Progressives for Democracy in America
Project R.I.G.H.T.
Providers’ Council- CareVote
Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts
Quincy Geneva New Vision CDC
Racial Justice Rising
Reclaim Our Democracy
Roca Inc.
Rosie’s Place
Salesforce
SEIU 1199
Shana Bryant Consulting Services
Small Planet Institute
Sunrise Boston
The Boston Foundation
The Good Governance Project – BC Law
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
The Real Cost of Prisons Project
The Women’s Pipeline for Change
Transformative Culture Project
Union of Minority Neighborhoods
Unitarian Universalist Mass Action
UTEC Inc.
VOTE New Bedford
Voter Choice Massachusetts
Worcester Interfaith
Yes – Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Young Democrats of Massachusetts
YWCA Malden
YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts