{"id":233,"date":"2022-07-11T11:26:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T15:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/"},"modified":"2022-07-11T11:26:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T15:26:47","slug":"supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision  in Lyons v Secretary of State"},"template":"","class_list":["post-233","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"The decision denies the plaintiffs' request to block the Secretary from putting the VOTES act into effect. A full opinion explaining the court's reasoning will follow.\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>VOTES Act to be in effect for September Primary<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court announced a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ma-appellatecourts.org\/docket\/SJC-13307\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">decision<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Lyons v Secretary of Commonwealth<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a lawsuit filed by the MA GOP attempting to block the recently passed VOTES Act. The decision denies the plaintiffs' request to block the Secretary from putting the VOTES act into effect. A full opinion explaining the court's reasoning will follow.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cToday\u2019s decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court means that voters will be able to rely on the provisions of\u00a0 the VOTES Act in the upcoming elections. This is a big win for voting rights in Massachusetts,\u201d said <\/span><b>Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cWe were confident all along that this attempt to block the VOTES Act was meritless. We\u2019re excited for the VOTES Act to be fully implemented to achieve its intended result: a more accessible, equitable, and stronger democracy in Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The VOTES Act makes 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;\">Common Cause Massachusetts submitted an amicus brief to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in support of the constitutionality of the VOTES Act which can be seen in full <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ma-appellatecourts.org\/pdf\/SJC-13307\/SJC-13307_08_Amicus_Common_Cause_Massachusetts_Brief.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span>"}}]},"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>Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State - 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\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/\" \/>\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\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/\",\"name\":\"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State - Common Cause Massachusetts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-11T15:26:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause Massachusetts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State - Common Cause Massachusetts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause Massachusetts","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":2000,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/VOTES-Act.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/","name":"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State - Common Cause Massachusetts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2022-07-11T15:26:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/supreme-judicial-court-reaches-decision-in-lyons-v-secretary-of-state\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supreme Judicial Court Reaches Decision in Lyons v Secretary of State"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/","name":"Common Cause Massachusetts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Common Cause Massachusetts","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}