{"id":350,"date":"2020-10-19T19:09:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T19:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/"},"modified":"2020-10-19T19:09:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T19:09:27","slug":"center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/","title":{"rendered":"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout"},"template":"","class_list":["post-350","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-news-clip"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","press_type":155,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"56\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":351}"],"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":"Offer people more ways to cast their ballot, make it easier and more convenient, and a lot more people will vote. That\u2019s the simple formula that advocates say has worked in Massachusetts.\r\n\r\nNow they\u2019d like to see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Laws\/SessionLaws\/Acts\/2020\/Chapter115\">temporary changes made to accommodate concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>\u00a0become permanent, and for the state to adopt more innovative proposals, such as a ranked-choice voting system that\u2019s on the November ballot.\r\n\r\n<section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cMassachusetts has made a lot of progress in our voting laws,\u201d said Pam Wilmot, executive director of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/our-work\/expand-voting-rights-election-integrity\/\">Common Cause Massachusetts<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve made a couple of big strides that have helped engage more voters.\u201d<\/p>\r\nWilmot said that the state\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairvote.org\/massachusetts-expands-voting-rights\">adoption of early voting and other reforms in 2014<\/a>, followed by a series of measures approved this summer to make absentee balloting accessible to everyone, \u201cmade a huge impact.\u201d\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cWe had record participation in the primary, almost more than quadruple what it was in 2016,\u201d she said. More than 1.7 million ballots were cast, an all-time high, and the turnout percentage was the best the state had seen in 30 years.<\/p>\r\nBut some obstacles to voting remain and can disproportionately impact Black and Latino voters. The number and location of early voting sites and absentee ballot drop boxes, for example, is for the most part left to the discretion of local cities and towns. And once among the most liberal in the country in allowing people convicted of felonies to vote, the state reversed course slightly in 2000 with a change to its constitution that disenfranchised them while they\u2019re in prison.\r\n\r\nWhile there is still more work to do, Wilmot described the state\u2019s gradual improvements to voting access as the politics of \u201cinertia, not intent.\u201d\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cIt\u2019s not like the office is purposely trying to disenfranchise voters or take them off the rolls,\u201d as has happened in other states, she said. \u201cThey really are committed to a voter-participation model.\u201d<\/p>\r\nHere\u2019s a look at some of the most significant barriers to voting rights and access in Massachusetts and how state officials are confronting them:\r\n\r\n<\/section><section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<h2 id=\"part-2\" class=\"article-section-heading\"><strong>ABSENTEE BALLOTS<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nMassachusetts enacted a series of temporary measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic this summer that voting rights advocates hope to make permanent.\r\n\r\nThe state\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.state.ma.us\/ele\/covid-19\/covid-19.htm\">expanded its window for early voting<\/a>, is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Laws\/SessionLaws\/Acts\/2020\/Chapter45\">allowing any voter to cast an absentee ballot<\/a>\u00a0without an excuse and mailed absentee ballot applications to every voter. Due to concerns about U.S. Postal Service delays, it will accept ballots received as late as three days after the election if a postmark or other evidence shows it was mailed by Election Day.\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cThe reform this summer is only limited to 2020. So we have a lot of work to expand it beyond that,\u201d Wilmot said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<h2 id=\"part-3\" class=\"article-section-heading\"><strong>LOCAL DISPARITIES<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nStructural inequality can put up barriers to voting access for people of color in Massachusetts, even as state officials make the process easier.\r\n\r\n<section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cLack of access to reliable mail means voting by mail is not easy. Lack of a computer means online voter registration is not easily accessible,\u201d Wilmot said. \u201cThere is inequality of access \u2026 because of inequality in the rest of the system.\u201d<\/p>\r\nMassachusetts doesn\u2019t have the inconsistency in polling place location access that other states have, though, and the state requires that they serve roughly equal numbers of voters.\r\n\r\nEven with those rules in place, Wilmot said there have been long lines at polls in predominantly Black communities when there is a big general election. She hopes that the expansion of early voting and absentee ballots this year will alleviate that problem.\r\n\r\nThe state leaves it up to local officials to determine the number and location of early voting locations (other than mandating at least one in each city and town). And it\u2019s a similar situation with the secure drop boxes for absentee ballots that have been deployed this year. They\u2019re allowed under a new state law but not required.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s no requirement that either be equitably deployed according to race, ethnicity or other neighborhood demographics.\r\n\r\n<\/section><section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<h2 id=\"part-4\" class=\"article-section-heading\"><strong>FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nMassachusetts has one of the most progressive approaches in the country to felony disenfranchisement. Voting rights are only taken away while someone is imprisoned, and those rights are restored automatically upon release.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nonprofitvote.org\/voting-in-your-state\/special-circumstances\/voting-as-an-ex-offender\/\">Some states take away those rights permanently<\/a>\u00a0for certain felony convictions. Others maintain the ban on voting during parole, and some require an expensive and onerous process for reinstatement.\r\n\r\nBut\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.masspowervote.org\/\">voting rights advocates<\/a>\u00a0are pressing to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/local-news\/2019\/05\/29\/how-massachusetts-prisoners-lost-the-right-to-vote\">reverse the constitutional amendment passed in 2000<\/a>\u00a0that put the prison voting ban in place. If successful, Massachusetts would join Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in having\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theappeal.org\/politicalreport\/massachusetts-lawmakers-consider-restoring-voting-rights-but-organizers-are-not-waiting\/\">virtually no restrictions on voting based on criminal convictions or imprisonment<\/a>.\r\n\r\nEven without that change, advocates say the state needs to educate people so they understand their rights are automatically restored after release from prison. They also want to ensure that people held temporarily in county jails understand they have the right to vote and are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/emancipationinitiative.org\/ballots-over-bars\/returning-the-right-to-vote\/\">given that opportunity by local officials<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/section><section class=\"article-section\">\r\n<h2 id=\"part-5\" class=\"article-section-heading\"><strong>RANKED-CHOICE VOTING<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nIf voters approve a statewide referendum this November, Massachusetts will join Maine in enacting a ranked-choice election system. Voters\u2019 second and third choices would be factored in automatically should no candidate win 50% of the vote.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, for example, Democrat Jared Golden unseated Maine 2nd District Congressman Bruce Poliquin under the ranked-choice system. Poliquin led narrowly after \u201cfirst choice\u201d votes were tallied but didn\u2019t reach 50%. When the second-choice votes of people who had backed third-party candidates in the race were then allocated to the two leading candidates, Golden won.\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cI think it\u2019s a good option for reducing the negativity in political campaigns and giving voters more choices without making it strategic in how they have to think about a vote, allowing people to pick their first choice, second choice, without hurting someone they like second best,\u201d Wilmot said.<\/p>\r\nIf the system had been in place in 2000, the country could have been spared 20 years of people lamenting Ralph Nader\u2019s role as a spoiler in the Bush vs. Gore presidential election.\r\n<p class=\"hang-punc-medium\">\u201cWe need more people running for office, not less, and no one should be pressured to not run or drop out because they\u2019re taking votes away from a more popular candidate,\u201d Wilmot said. \u201cRanked choice voting gets rid of all of that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><\/section>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<a class=\"button1\" role=\"button\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\u201cLack of access to reliable mail means voting by mail is not easy. Lack of a computer means online voter registration is not easily accessible,\u201d Wilmot said. \u201cThere is inequality of access \u2026 because of inequality in the rest of the system.\u201d  Massachusetts doesn\u2019t have the inconsistency in polling place location access that other states have, though, and the state requires that they serve roughly equal numbers of voters.   Even with those rules in place, Wilmot said there have been long lines at polls in predominantly Black communities when there is a big general election. She hopes that the expansion of early voting and absentee ballots this year will alleviate that problem.   The state leaves it up to local officials to determine the number and location of early voting locations (other than mandating at least one in each city and town). And it\u2019s a similar situation with the secure drop boxes for absentee ballots that have been deployed this year. They\u2019re allowed under a new state law but not required.  There\u2019s no requirement that either be equitably deployed according to race, ethnicity or other neighborhood demographics.  FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT Massachusetts has one of the most progressive approaches in the country to felony disenfranchisement. Voting rights are only taken away while someone is imprisoned, and those rights are restored automatically upon release.   Some states take away those rights permanently for certain felony convictions. Others maintain the ban on voting during parole, and some require an expensive and onerous process for reinstatement.  But voting rights advocates are pressing to reverse the constitutional amendment passed in 2000 that put the prison voting ban in place. If successful, Massachusetts would join Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., in having virtually no restrictions on voting based on criminal convictions or imprisonment.  Even without that change, advocates say the state needs to educate people so they understand their rights are automatically restored after release from prison. They also want to ensure that people held temporarily in county jails understand they have the right to vote and are given that opportunity by local officials.   RANKED-CHOICE VOTING If voters approve a statewide referendum this November, Massachusetts will join Maine in enacting a ranked-choice election system. Voters\u2019 second and third choices would be factored in automatically should no candidate win 50% of the vote.  In 2018, for example, Democrat Jared Golden unseated Maine 2nd District Congressman Bruce Poliquin under the ranked-choice system. Poliquin led narrowly after \u201cfirst choice\u201d votes were tallied but didn\u2019t reach 50%. When the second-choice votes of people who had backed third-party candidates in the race were then allocated to the two leading candidates, Golden won.  \u201cI think it\u2019s a good option for reducing the negativity in political campaigns and giving voters more choices without making it strategic in how they have to think about a vote, allowing people to pick their first choice, second choice, without hurting someone they like second best,\u201d Wilmot said.   If the system had been in place in 2000, the country could have been spared 20 years of people lamenting Ralph Nader\u2019s role as a spoiler in the Bush vs. Gore presidential election.  \u201cWe need more people running for office, not less, and no one should be pressured to not run or drop out because they\u2019re taking votes away from a more popular candidate,\u201d Wilmot said. \u201cRanked choice voting gets rid of all of that.\u201d\">Read Article<\/a> "}}]},"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>Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout - 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\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Massachusetts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\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\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout - Common Cause Massachusetts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-19T19:09:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout\"}]},{\"@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":"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout - 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\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause Massachusetts","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/","name":"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout - Common Cause Massachusetts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-19T19:09:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/center-for-public-integrity-in-massachusetts-removing-barriers-to-voting-boosts-turnout\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Center for Public Integrity: In Massachusetts, Removing Barriers to Voting Boosts Turnout"}]},{"@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\/350","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\/350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}