{"id":178,"date":"2020-05-14T21:11:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T21:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/for-immediate-release-voting-rights-groups-call-for-urgent-action-on-hd-5075-a-bill-supported-by-over-100-organizations-to-safeguard-fall-elections\/"},"modified":"2020-05-14T21:11:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T21:11:16","slug":"for-immediate-release-voting-rights-groups-call-for-urgent-action-on-hd-5075-a-bill-supported-by-over-100-organizations-to-safeguard-fall-elections","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/for-immediate-release-voting-rights-groups-call-for-urgent-action-on-hd-5075-a-bill-supported-by-over-100-organizations-to-safeguard-fall-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Voting Rights Groups Call for Urgent Action on HD 5075, a Bill Supported by Over 100 Organizations to Safeguard Fall Elections"},"template":"","class_list":["post-178","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"\u201cWe support this bill because it is based on evidence and best practices from other states,\u201d says Pam Wilmot of Common Cause Massachusetts. \u201cIt is comprehensive, and includes reforms that consider the needs of voters, but also of local elections officials who no matter what happens will be faced with a surge of absentee ballots and very different elections than in years past. One clear lesson learned from other states is that the necessary reforms will take all the time we have to implement, which is why we urge the Joint Committee on Election Laws to act quickly to move this critical bill.\u201d","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":[null,null],"related_issues":[98,100,109,462],"related_work":false,"location":24},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Voting rights organizations including Common Cause Massachusetts, MassVOTE, the League of Women Voters, and the ACLU of Massachusetts testified before the Joint Committee on Election Laws today in support of HD 5075, An Act Ensuring Safe and Participatory 2020 State Elections in Response to COVID-19. They called for the Committee to act quickly to support the bill.\r\n\r\nHD 5075 \u2013 filed by Representatives Michael Moran and John Lawn \u2013 has been endorsed by over 100 organizations in Massachusetts, as of Thursday afternoon. More endorsements are pending.\r\n\r\nDuring the hearing, supporters of HD.5075 testified that the bill will help ensure safe, participatory, and accessible elections during COVID-19, and also help protect the ability of local elections officials to manage a transition to a primarily vote-by-mail election. With the September elections only three months away and general elections, five, the advocates argued that in order for Massachusetts elections infrastructure to be able to handle the necessary changes, the committee and State House must act quickly.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe support this bill because it is based on evidence and best practices from other states,\u201d says <strong>Pam Wilmot of Common Cause Massachusetts.<\/strong> \u201cIt is comprehensive, and includes reforms that consider the needs of voters, but also of local elections officials who no matter what happens will be faced with a surge of absentee ballots and very different elections than in years past. One clear lesson learned from other states is that the necessary reforms will take all the time we have to implement, which is why we urge the Joint Committee on Election Laws to act quickly to move this critical bill.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cElections matter,\u201d says <strong>Rahsaan Hall, racial justice program director at the ACLU of Massachusetts<\/strong>. \u201cAnd this particular election will not only be impacted by COVID-19, but its results will determine the leaders who will govern as our country rebuilds. We need to take immediate, aggressive action to protect and facilitate the vote this fall \u2013 by mail, in person, and in safety \u2013 in order to safeguard the ballot for everyone and avoid exacerbating systemic inequalities that particularly impact communities of color.\u201d\r\n\r\nSays <strong>Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, Executive Director of MassVOTE<\/strong>, \"Through our testimony, we strived to make one thing clear: HD.5075 is the best chance Massachusetts has to adequately brace our elections for COVID19. This includes vote-by-mail; this includes expanded early voting; this includes personal protective equipment for poll workers. We know what needs to be done, so let's do it.\u201d\r\n\r\n\"Every voter deserves to cast a vote safely. We will work hard to ensure that voters with limited English proficiency can access multilingual materials for voting from the safety of their homes, as required by this bill,\" says <strong>Beth Huang, the Director of the Massachusetts Voter Table<\/strong>, a coalition of community organizations.\r\n\r\n\"It is critical that our fall elections are carried out in a way that assures voters and election workers can participate safely and that affirms the public\u2019s trust in the outcome,\" says <strong>Patricia Comfort, executive director, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts<\/strong>. \"There is going to be a large increase in absentee ballots. We must make sure they can be handled in a way that does not cause massive disruption. Sending voters a ballot before the November election without requiring an application will help tremendously.\"\r\n\r\n\"As the saying goes, in crisis there is danger and there is opportunity. This bill seizes an opportunity to make our elections fairer and safer in 2020,\" says <strong>Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n\"HD5070 lays out a clear path forward to safely enable the voters of the Commonwealth, particularly those most disenfranchised by barriers to voting, to fully participate in our democracy despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 health crisis,\" says <strong>Sophia Hall, Supervising Attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nOrganizations endorsing HD 5075 include:\r\nCommon Cause Massachusetts\r\nACLU of Massachusetts\r\nMASSPIRG\r\nMassVOTE\r\nLeague of Women Voters of Massachusetts\r\nMassachusetts Voter Table\r\nLawyers for Civil Rights\r\n1199SEIU Massachusetts\r\nAction for Equity\r\nAlternatives for Community and Environment\r\nAmerican Federation of Teachers-MA\r\nAmerican Promise\r\nArise for Social Justice\r\nBerkshire Democratic Brigades\r\nBlack Directors' Network\r\nBlack Economic Justistic Institute\r\nBlack Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.\r\nBoston Democratic Socialists of America\r\nBoston Ten Point Coalition\r\nBoston Ujima Project\r\nBurlington Democratic Town Committee\r\nCambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc.\r\nCambridge Area Stronger Together (CAST)\r\nCharles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice\r\nChilmark Democratic Town Committee\r\nCity Life Vida Urbana\r\nCity Mission, Inc.\r\nClean Water Action MA\r\nCoaltion for Social Justice\r\nCodman Square NDC\r\nConservation Law Foundation\r\nCriminal Justice Reform Task Force of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek\r\nDudley Street Neighborhood Initiative - DSNI\r\nEnd Mass Incarceration Together\r\nEnvironmental League of Massachusetts\r\nEqual Citizens\r\nForwardMA\r\nFour Freedoms Coalition\r\nFranklin County Continuing the Political Revolution\r\nGarrison Trotter Neighborhood Association\r\nGeneration Citizen Massachusetts\r\nGreater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center Inc.\r\nGreater Boston Section-National Council of Negro Women\r\nIndivisible Martha's Vineyard\r\nIndivisible Northampton\r\nIndivisible Outer Cape\r\niVOTE\r\nJetpac\r\nJewish Alliance for Law and Social Action\r\nJewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston\r\nLa Comunidad, Inc\r\nLift+Every+Vote\r\nMA Association of Community Development Corporations\r\nMAPS-Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers\r\nMarch For Our Lives: Massachusetts\r\nMass Alliance of HUD Tenants\r\nMass Communities Action Network\r\nMass Equality\r\nMassachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance\r\nMassachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition\r\nMassachusetts Law Reform Institute\r\nMassachusetts Peace Action\r\nMassachusetts Women of Color Coalition\r\nMental Health Legal Advisors Committee\r\nMITvote\r\nNAACP-Boston Branch\r\nNational Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter\r\nNeighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts\r\nNew England United for Justice\r\nNext Leadership Development Corporation\r\nNonprofit Vote\r\nPHENOM\r\nPlanned Parenthood\r\nPleasant Hill Baptist Church\r\nPrince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts\r\nProgressive Democrats of Massachusetts\r\nProgressive For Democracy in America\r\nProgressive Massachusetts\r\nProject R.I.G.H.T.\r\nProviders\u2019 Council- CareVote\r\nQuincy Geneva New Vision CDC\r\nRacial Justice Rising\r\nReclaim Our Democracy\r\nRight to the City Boston\r\nRosie's Place\r\nSierra Club Massachusetts Chapter\r\nSmall Planet Institute\r\nSomerville Democratic City Committee\r\nSunrise Movement Boston\r\nThe Equal Democracy Project at Harvard Law School\r\nThe Real Cost of Prisons Project\r\nThe Women's Pipeline for Change\r\nToxics Action Center\r\nTransformative Culture Project\r\nUnion of Minority Neighborhoods\r\nUnitarian Universalist Mass Action\r\nVoter Choice for Massachusetts 2020\r\nWorcester Interfaith\r\nYoung Democrats of Massachusetts\r\nYWCA Cambridge\r\nYWCA Malden\r\nYWCA Southeastern Massachusetts\r\n\r\n###\r\n\r\n<em>The Election Modernization Coalition is comprised of the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause Massachusetts, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, MASSPIRG, MassVOTE, and the Massachusetts Voter Table.<\/em>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<a class=\"button1\" role=\"button\"  href=\"\">Download the Release<\/a> "}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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