{"id":232,"date":"2022-06-22T16:36:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T20:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/"},"modified":"2022-06-22T16:36:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T20:36:51","slug":"governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Baker Signs the VOTES ACT into law"},"template":"","class_list":["post-232","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"The bill is the largest expansion of voting access in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in years.\u00a0","featured_image":6934,"press_type":146,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7814}"],"related_issues":[97,99,100,107,108,109,462],"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":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>Voting Rights Advocates Applaud New Expansion to <\/i><\/b><b><i>Voting Laws in Massachusetts<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boston, MA \u2014 Governor Baker signed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Bills\/192\/S2924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the VOTES Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into law today, expanding access to the ballot in Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voting rights advocates, public interest groups and a network of state and local organizations praised the legislation signed by Governor Baker today. The bill, An Act Fostering Voting Opportunities, Trust, Equity, and Security or the VOTES Act, is the largest expansion of voting access in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in years.\u00a0 The House and Senate passed the final version of the bill last week.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The VOTES Act will make several permanent changes to Massachusetts\u2019 election laws, including: allowing voters to vote by mail without an excuse; expanding early voting options; making sure that eligible voters who are incarcerated are able to request a mail ballot and vote; ensuring that the Commonwealth joins the 30-state <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ericstates.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Electronic Registration Information Center<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (ERIC) to keep voter registration rolls up-to-date; and more. The bill also reduces the voter registration deadline prior to an election from twenty days to ten.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The VOTES Act, sponsored by State Representative John Lawn and Senator Cindy Creem, is strongly supported by the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition, a coalition of advocacy organizations working to modernize the Commonwealth\u2019s election laws.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are thrilled that Governor Baker signed the VOTES Act into law today. We\u2019d like to thank Governor Baker, Senate President Spilka and Speaker Mariano for making voting rights a priority this legislative session,\u201d said <\/span><b>Geoff Foster, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cAt a time when many states are making it harder to vote, this new law will modernize our elections and make our democracy more accessible and equitable.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are proud Massachusetts is actively supporting voters and appreciate the Governor signing this bill,\u201d said <\/span><b>Patricia Comfort, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cWe expect voters to use the mail and early voting options as soon as the Sept. 6 primary election<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\"\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cVoters embraced mail-in voting and expanded early voting in 2020,\u201d said <\/span><b>Beth Huang, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Voter Table<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cNow that the VOTES Act is law, we will educate voters, especially in communities of color and working-class neighborhoods, about these permanent expansions of voting rights.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cVoting is the foundation of democracy; it is the right we exercise to protect all others,\u201d said <\/span><b>Carol<\/b> <b>Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cAcross the country, voting rights are in peril, but Massachusetts is charting a different course. We applaud Massachusetts policymakers for strengthening our democracy and advancing these crucial voting reforms.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhatever sport you\u2019re following right now, signing this bill is a home run, a slam dunk, or a hole in one. All of us win when voting is made more accessible and that\u2019s what the VOTES Act will accomplish,\u201d said<\/span><b> Janet Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG. \"<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our thanks go out to Governor Baker for turning this act into law.\"\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"We are overjoyed that Governor Baker has signed the VOTES Act into law,\" <\/span><b>said Vanessa Snow, Policy and Organizing Director at MassVOTE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \"Policies included in the VOTES Act, like permanent mail-in voting, expanded early voting, and jail-based voting reforms, will increase accessibility and equity in our elections. We of course wish that Election Day Registration was included in this version of the VOTES Act, but we will continue to fight tirelessly for the reform in the years ahead. We thank Representative John Lawn and Senator Cindy Creem for filing the VOTES Act, as well as Senate President Spilka, House Speaker Mariano, and Governor Baker for supporting the bill.\"<\/span>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">----------<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Election Modernization Coalition is made up of Common Cause Massachusetts, ACLU of Massachusetts, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, MassVOTE, the Massachusetts Voter Table, MASSPIRG, and Lawyers for Civil Rights.<\/span><\/i><\/p>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Governor Baker Signs the VOTES ACT into law - Common Cause Massachusetts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Governor Baker Signs the VOTES ACT into law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Massachusetts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/VOTES-Act.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/governor-baker-signs-the-votes-act-into-law\/\",\"name\":\"Governor Baker Signs the VOTES ACT into law - 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