{"id":251,"date":"2024-01-19T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/gateway-city-voters-overwhelming-support-voting-access-act\/"},"modified":"2024-01-19T09:00:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:00:47","slug":"gateway-city-voters-overwhelming-support-voting-access-act","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/gateway-city-voters-overwhelming-support-voting-access-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Gateway City Voters Overwhelming Support Voting ACCESS Act"},"template":"","class_list":["post-251","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Voters discuss new election laws, accessibility at town halls","featured_image":6913,"press_type":146,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7814}"],"related_issues":[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":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the past week, the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition hosted three town hall meetings to discuss voters\u2019 experiences at the polls.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversations in Brockton, Lawrence, and Springfield helped voting rights advocates to better understand and elevate the needs of communities of color and low-income communities. Over 100 voters turned out to discuss making elections more accessible for their communities.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Bills\/193\/S410\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voting ACCESS Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, filed by Senator Cindy Creem as S.410, was a central topic of conversation. Voters and community-based organizations were enthusiastic about the components of the bill which includes Same-Day Registration, decoupling the annual municipal census from voter registration, improved oversight of accessibility at the polls for disabled voters and make forms for no-excuse voting by mail more straightforward.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are encouraged by the number of engaged, energized community members and organizations in gateway cities who joined us for meaningful conversations about voting access and to express support for reforms like Same Day Registration,\u201d said <\/span><b>Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cStructural barriers to voting are heavily felt in Boston and gateway cities. After our town hall series, we are beyond confident that the Voting ACCESS Act is the solution we need to make our elections more inclusive and equitable.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"Even in cold, snowy January, people came, in person, on a weekday evening, in droves, to discuss how we can all work together to build a better democracy in Massachusetts,\u201d said <\/span><b>Janet Domenitz, executive director of MASSPIRG.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cIt's an exciting and important time to take down every barrier to voting and participation.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn an election year like this,\u201d said <\/span><b>Cheryl Crawford, executive director of MassVOTE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cIt's more important than ever to focus on making our electoral process as accessible as possible. The town hall discussions highlight the importance of ensuring voting access for every Massachusetts resident, especially in marginalized communities and among communities of color. They also helped us to make sure that we apply language justice and equitable voting practices.\"\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Election Modernization Coalition\u2019s three town halls were intentionally held in racially and linguistically diverse communities to capture and share the barriers those communities face when trying to access the ballot box,\u201d said <\/span><b>Sophia Hall, Lawyers for Civil Rights\u2019 (LCR) deputy litigation director.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cThe Voting ACCESS Act is intended to reflect these real life experiences and the town halls highlight the need to bring these communities into the discussions about the future of voting in Massachusetts.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cVoters in Springfield, Brockton, and Lawrence made their voices heard: voting access is a key priority for 2024,\u201d said <\/span><b>Shanique Spalding, executive director of the MA Voter Table<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cWe heard countless stories from individuals in each community about being turned away on election day with provisional ballots or being marked inactive as a voter unbeknownst to them. The Voting ACCESS Act and Same Day Registration will lower the barriers to voting that community members at these town halls have encountered.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIncluding potential voters in Brockton, Lawrence and Springfield in the conversation is incredibly important to ensuring every voice is heard in our democracy,\" said <\/span><b>Barbara L\u2019Italien, executive director of the Disability Law Center.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \"It is imperative that every citizen can exercise their right to vote free from unnecessary obstacles, and we must continue to advocate for breaking down those barriers for voters with disabilities.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe listening sessions held by the Election Modernization Coalition provided valuable information to the voting public as well as gathered information to help guide efforts at making voting free, fair and more accessible,\u201d said <\/span><b>Traci Griffith, director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cThe coalition work continues until every eligible citizen has the ability to cast their vote and make their voice heard.\"\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"Our recent town hall series connected our advocacy efforts directly with voters in Brockton, Lawrence, and Springfield,\" said <\/span><b>Patricia Comfort, executive director of League of Women Voters of Massachusetts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \"One major takeaway from our events is that our work to remove barriers to voting \u2014 especially in gateway cities \u2014 remains unfinished.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-release\/data-suggests-same-day-voter-registration-could-eliminate-need-for-99-of-2022-provisional-ballots\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analysis of provisional ballot data<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> released in October by the Election Modernization Coalition suggested that 99% of those rejected provisional ballots might have been counted had Massachusetts had same-day voter registration. Data shows that Boston and gateway cities like Brockton, Lawrence, and Springfield use provisional ballots at a rate much higher than towns and cities in western Massachusetts. In the 2022 general election, 68% of provisional ballots were rejected in cities, whereas just 32% were rejected in towns despite the population being evenly split between cities and towns.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More information on the Voting ACCESS Act is available <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/02\/VotingACCESSFactSheet2023-1.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8935\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall6-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/> <img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8936\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall5-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/> <img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8937\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall4-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/> <img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8938\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall3-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/> <img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8939\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall2-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/> <img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8940\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Townhall1-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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