Earlier this evening, the MA Senate voted 36 to 3 to pass the VOTES Act (S.2545: An Act fostering voter opportunities, trust, equity and security), a vital election reform bill that would create a permanent option for vote-by-mail, expand early voting opportunities, and enact Same Day Registration and jail-based voting reforms. The 3 NO votes came from the chamber’s 3 Republicans.
Here’s a deeper dive on what the bill does:
Permanent No-Excuse Mail-In Voting
- Requires the Secretary of the Commonwealth to send out mail-in ballot applications to all registered voters on July 15 of every even-numbered year.
- Guarantees postage for mail-in ballot applications and ballots.
- Ensures the counting of any ballots received by 5PM on the third day after the biennial state election.
- Gives municipalities the option to set up secure drop boxes for mail-in ballots.
- Allows election officials to pre-process mail-in and early voting ballots in advance of Election Day.
Same Day Registration
- Enables individuals to register to vote during early voting periods and on Election Day.
Expanded Early Voting
- Requires two weeks (including two weekends) of early voting in-person for biennial state elections and any municipal elections held on the same day.
- Requires one week (including one weekend) of early voting in-person for a presidential or state primary and any municipal elections held on the same day.
- Allows municipalities to opt-in to early voting in-person for all other municipal elections.
Jail-Based Voting Reforms
- Ensures that individuals who are incarcerated who are currently eligible to vote are provided with voting information and materials to exercise their right to vote.
- Requires correctional facilities to display and distribute information about voting rights and procedures, as prepared by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
- Requires facilities to assist individuals who are incarcerated in registering, applying for, and returning mail ballots.
- Ensures that individuals who are incarcerated are properly notified of their right to vote upon release and given the opportunity fill out a voter registration form.
The bill would also allow a voter with disabilities to request accommodations from the Secretary of the Commonwealth to vote by mail (including electronic and accessible instructions, ballot application, ballot, and a voter affidavit that can be submitted electronically) and requires the Secretary of the Commonwealth to enroll Massachusetts in the the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which helps states keep more accurate voting rolls, no later than July 1, 2022. States in ERIC received regular, securely generated reports on that show voters who have moved within their state, voters who have moved out of state, voters who have died, duplicate registrations in the same state, and individuals who are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. Galvin was required to join this by the Automatic Voter Registration bill passed in 2018 but has not yet done so.
Good Amendments That Passed
During floor debate, the Senate passed several amendments to strengthen the bill.
Amendment #1, filed by Adam Hinds (D-Hinds) and backed by the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, strengthened the Jail-Based Voting language in the bill by being more clearly directive in instructions for houses of corrections (e.g., requiring that incarcerated individuals be provided access to sufficient writing instruments to fill out applications or ballots), prohibiting the opening of ballots or delaying of mailing them by correctional staff, requiring that incarcerated individuals be provided information about their voting rights and a (postage-paid) voter registration form upon release, and requiring quarterly reports from houses of correction to the Secretary of the Commonwealth about newly incarcerated individuals who would be eligible to vote and newly released individuals who had been incarcerated with felony convictions and would be now eligible to vote again.
Amendment #13, filed by Julian Cyr (D-Truro), which extended the deadline for submitting vote-by-mail applications from 7 business days before the election to 7 days before.
Amendments #18 & 19, filed by Becca Rausch (D-Needham), which clarified language in the underlying bill to ensure that vote-by-mail and Same Day Registration provisions apply to municipal elections as well.
Amendment #33, filed by Becca Rausch (D-Needham), which made police presence at the polls on Election Day optional as opposed to required for municipalities, reflecting a change made in the bill for early voting sites.
Amendment #35, filed by Becca Rausch (D-Needham), which would require a robust, multi-language public awareness campaign about the reforms in the bill.
Good Amendments That Were Voted Down
Unfortunately, the Senate voted down many other good amendments, often by voice vote, such as amendments from Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain) about transliteration of ballots and pre-registration in houses of corrections; an amendment from Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) on automatic registration at houses of corrections; and amendments from Becca Rausch (D-Needham) to provide for enforcement of the language around ERIC, require polling locations near college campuses, move the state primary to June, and allow voters to return mail ballots at their regular polling place.
Three of Rausch’s amendments received recorded votes.
Paid Time Off for Voting: Amendment #4, filed by Rausch, would have required that all workers be able to take 2 hours of paid time off to vote, ensuring that a work schedule is not a barrier to participating in our democracy. The amendment failed 12 to 26. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) spoke for Senate Leadership against the amendment but did not make any substantive arguments against it.
Drop Box Accessibility: Amendment #17, filed by Rausch, would have required at least one secure, accessible drop box location per 25,000 registered voters in a municipality. It failed 13 to 25. Cindy Creem (D-Newton) argued for Senate Leadership against it, claiming that it would be too costly for cities and towns; if that was a real concern, then Senate Leadership could have decided to include the funds for it.
Permanent Vote-By-Mail Enrollment: Amendment #21, filed by Rausch, would have enabled voters to enroll in vote-by-mail on a permanent basis, rather than just election by election. It failed 7 to 31. Sen. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) argued against it for Senate Leadership, noting that people’s addresses change; however, the state’s enrollment in ERIC would address that issue.
