voting rights

There shouldn’t be a voter registration deadline.

If you live in Boston, Brockton, Framingham, Gloucester, Haverhill, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Newton, Peabody, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Somerville, or Worcester, then today is the last day to register to vote or update your registration before the September 14th preliminary. You can do that online here.

That, however, raises a key question: Why do we even have such a 20-day cutoff at all?

Our neighbors in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut all allow eligible voters to register or update their registration at the polls. In total, 20 states and DC have Same Day Registration.

So we know it’s possible. And we know it works: studies have shown that Same Day Registration is one of the best reforms for increasing voter participation.

When the MA House and MA Senate consider a voting reform package this fall to make some of last year’s changes permanent, it’s vital that Same Day Registration be a part of it.

Can you email your state legislators today in support of Same Day Registration?

voting rights

There’s a LOT Going on This Week

This past weekend marked the first time that Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery, with its date stemming from when the Union General Gordon Granger formally announced enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth is a day to celebrate, but also a reminder of how much work is still to be done, as the legacies of slavery live on in our policing systems, carceral systems, housing segregation, inequalities of wealth and access to public goods, and more.

TODAY & TOMORROW: Fair Share Amendment Campaign Launches

Boston!

Calling all Boston area Fair Share Amendment supporters!

RSVP to attend the campaign launch for Fair Share in Boston tonight at 5 pm outside the Bolling Building (2300 Washington St) in Roxbury!

Springfield & Western Mass!

Calling all Springfield are Fair Share Amendment supporters!

RSVP to attend the campaign launch tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6 pm outside Springfield City Hall.

Anywhere & Everywhere!

Don’t forget to sign a Fair Share pledge card!

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WEDNESDAY: Driving Families Forward Hearing Watch Party

The Driving Families Forward Coalition will be hosting a virtual watch and action party for supporters and coalition partners from 2-4PM on Wednesday, June 23rd, during the bill’s hearing!

RSVP HERE to join.

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SATURDAY: FREEDOM TO VOTE RALLY

Join us at the Freedom to Vote Rally on 6/26/21 at 2 – 3:30PM in the Boston Common! There is overwhelming public support for voting rights! Push the Senate to pass S.1 for the People Act.

Join Indivisible Mass Coalition, Swing Blue Alliance, NAACP-Boston, Common Cause MA, Progressive Mass, JALSA, Act on Mass, Free Speech for People, Mass Peace Action, TPS Alliance, Indivisible Acton Area & others at the Rally.

Your strong voice at this critical moment is essential. The fate of our democracy hangs in the balance. This rally is one of the thousands of events to be held across the country to demonstrate massive grassroots support of the For the People Act.

Voter suppression has a disproportionate impact on voters of color. The Boston Freedom to Vote rally will coincide with the arrival in Washington D.C. of the Freedom Ride bus tour. This bus tour, organized by Black Voters Matter, commemorates the 60th anniversary of the original Freedom Ride movement as a means to unite voters in the fight to protect voting rights. We cannot let legislators continue to strip away voting rights, particularly impacting Black voters.

To meet this moment, we are assembling all the supports that are needed, including event marshals and peacekeepers, water stations, medical support and a fully equipped stage with a state of the art sound system. If you can volunteer, please email debi.cpaul@gmail.com.

Hope to see you this week!

When the Right to Vote Is Under Attack

Join us at the Freedom to Vote Rally on 6/26/21 at 2 – 3:30PM in the Boston Common! There is overwhelming public support for voting rights! Push the Senate to pass S.1 for the People Act.

Next Wednesday @ 6 PM: Democracy Denied Town Hall

A town hall discussion on hyper-incarceration’s effect on political power, and the movement to ensure democracy does not stop at prisons and jails.

Presented by the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, Senator Adam Hinds, and Representatives Tyler and Miranda

RSVP here.

voting rights

Here’s How MA Can Strengthen Democracy for Our Local Elections

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Chairman Finegold, Chairman Ryan, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I chair the Issues Committee at Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to fighting for progressive policy here in the Commonwealth. A core part of our platform is an electoral system that expands voting, the electorate, and its trust in candidates and elected officials.

Accordingly, we urge you to give a favorable report to S.485/H.825: An Act providing a local option for ranked choice voting in municipal elections.

When voters get to the ballot box, they can face complicated choices. Our first-past-the-post system forces ordinary voters to weigh whether they can vote for their preferred candidate or whether doing so would lead to a “spoiler effect” that gives a candidate they like less a clearer path to victory. This same dynamic can lead candidates and their supporters to try to force similar candidates out of a race due to a fear of “vote splitting.”

Within the current system, the ultimate winner may command less than a majority support, a contradiction of a basic tenet of democracy and a far too common occurrence in Massachusetts elections. Ranked Choice Voting would eliminate these problems by enabling voters to rank the order of their preferences on the ballot and ensuring that whoever wins does so with majority support.

Although the ballot initiative to implement Ranked Choice Voting for state and county elections did not pass last year, the measure did pass in 78 municipalities in varying parts of the Commonwealth. If such municipalities wish to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for local elections, they should not have to face undue hurdles to doing so.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

voting rights

Thirty Statewide and National Organizations Urge Joint Committee on Election Laws to Hold Public Hearing on Jail-Based Voting Reform

Coalition working to end the disenfranchisement of eligible incarcerated voters say failure to hold a summer public hearing will ensure the disenfranchisement of eligible, disproportionately Black voters and voters of color in fall municipal elections.

voting rights

Call Them Maybe?

Passing a progressive agenda requires engaging people across the Commonwealth to reach out to their legislators.

So call them maybe?

Safe Communities Act Phone Banks

The Safe Communities Act achieved major progress last year. Building on that momentum, we’re ready to fight for a victory this session.

But we need a supermajority of House and Senate votes to overcome an expected Governor’s veto. That’s two-thirds of each chamber: 107 House votes and 27 Senate votes.

Help us engage constituents in purple districts, so that swing legislators can be confident they have public support when they take that vote.

Join us for a Zoom Phone Bank tomorrow at 6 pm — or Wednesday, June 23rd — to call voters in swing districts to generate calls to their legislators! Register here—and don’t forget to invite your friends!

There will be a short training at the beginning, log-in information, and lists for phone banking. You’ll need a computer and phone to participate, and you’ll get Zoom information on how to join when you RSVP.

Democracy Behind Bars Phone Banks

The Democracy Behind Bars Coalition is a coalition of advocacy and community organizations, direct service and religious groups, and individuals committed to ensuring that democracy does not stop at prisons and jails in Massachusetts. Specifically, the coalition is working to ensure incarcerated people who have the right to vote have access to the ballot; to ensure that over-policed communities are not stripped of political power through prison gerrymandering; and to restore the right to vote to all incarcerated Bay Staters.

The Coalition will be calling constituents of constituents of key legislators to ask them to ensure that the Jail-Based Voting Bill has an early hearing and is sent to a vote. We need your help!

You’ll get training on how to use ThruTalk, key talking points, and help throughout if you have any questions.

Thursday June 10th 5pm-7:30 pm
Thursday June 17th 5pm-7:30pm
Thursday June 24th 5pm-7:30pm

Hope to see you on the phones!

Safe Communities Act voting rights

Coalition Testimony on the VOTES Act

Two coalitions of which Progressive Mass is a member submitted testimony for this week’s hearing on the VOTES Act.

Safe Elections Network

Testimony in Support of H.805 & S.459
An Act Fostering Voting Opportunities, Trust, Equity and Security

Joint Committee on Election Laws
May 19, 2021

Dear Chair Ryan, Chair Finegold, Vice Chair Vitolo, Vice Chair Gomez, and members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws,

The more than 100 undersigned organizations write jointly to make sure the committee knows that support for the VOTES Act is deep and broad.
Please accept this letter as testimony in support of H.805 and S.459, An Act Fostering Voting Opportunities, Trust, Equity, and Security, sponsored by Representative Lawn and Senator Creem.

Temporary voter access expansions passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, like mail-in voting and early voting in-person, were not just a win for public health, but for our democracy overall. We saw a significant increase in voter turnout that went beyond just the marquis names on the ballot. With such success in public engagement, it is important to make these reforms permanent. However, we must rise to the times and do even more.

With all eyes on voter suppression bills in other states, now is not the time to sit on the sideline. Massachusetts still has work to do to ensure that every eligible voter has access to a ballot.

The VOTES Act seeks to make the COVID-19 expansions permanent and strengthen our election infrastructure with key provisions like a back-end Automatic Voter Registration system, enrolling in ERIC, and enhancing our post-election audits.

Perhaps most important, it seeks to remove barriers to eligible voters by establishing Same-Day Registration and codifying jail-based voting practices for incarcerated eligible voters. Without these reforms, Massachusetts cannot say that we have done all that is necessary to ensure that every eligible voter can actually exercise the right to vote.

We must take a comprehensive and systemic approach to improve elections in Massachusetts and the VOTES Act does just that. This bill is not a laundry list of ideal policies, but a delicately woven tapestry of best-practices that will help Massachusetts move towards a more inclusive, welcoming Commonwealth.

We respectfully urge you to report H.805 & S.459 favorably out of committee in its entirety as quickly as
possible.

Sincerely,

ACLU MA
Action for Equity
ADL New England
American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts
American Promise
Amplify Latinx
Arise for Social Justice

Black Boston COVID19 Coalition
Black Economic Justice Institute
Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.
Boston Ten Point Coalition
Boston Ujima Project
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association
College Bound Dorchester

Common Cause MA
City Life / Vida Urbana
City Mission, Inc.
Coalition for a Better Acre
Coalition for Social Justice
Codman Square NDC
College Bound Dorchester
Community Action Works Campaigns
Conservation Law Foundation
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Edgartown Democratic Town Committee
Environmental League of Massachusetts
Equal Citizens
ForwardMA
Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution
Freedom House
Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association
Generation Citizen
Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center Inc.
Greater Boston Section-National Council of Negro Women
GSM Labor Council
Immigrants’ Assistance Center, Inc. (IAC)
Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard
Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition
Indivisible Outer Cape
iVOTE
JCRC
Jetpac Resource Center
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
La Colaborativa
La Comunidad, Inc.
Lawrence Partnership
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Lift Every Vote
League of Women Voters MA
Lowell Votes
Madison Park Development Corporation
MAPS-Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Mass Equality
Mass NOW
Mass. Assoc. of Community Development Corporations
Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement
Massachusetts Communities Action Network
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Massachusetts Peace Action
Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition
MASSCreative
MASSPIRG
MASSPIRG Students
MassVOTE
Massachusetts Voter Table
MITvote
More Than Words
NAACP-Boston Branch
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
Next Leadership Development Corporation
Nonprofit Vote
Planned Parenthood MA
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts
Progressive Massachusetts
Progressives for Democracy in America
Project R.I.G.H.T.
Providers’ Council- CareVote
Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts
Quincy Geneva New Vision CDC
Racial Justice Rising
Reclaim Our Democracy
Roca Inc.
Rosie’s Place
1199 SEIU
Shana Bryant Consulting Services
Small Planet Institute
Sunrise Boston
The Good Governance Project – BC Law
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
The Real Cost of Prisons Project
The Women’s Pipeline for Change
Transformative Culture Project
Union of Minority Neighborhoods
Unitarian Universalist Mass Action
UTEC Inc.
VOTE New Bedford
Voter Choice Massachusetts
Worcester Interfaith
Yes – Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Young Demcorats of Massachusetts
YWCA Malden

Democracy Behind Bars Coalition

Testimony on H.805 and S. 459

An Act Fostering Voting Opportunities, Trust, Equity, and Security (The VOTES Act)

Joint Committee on Election Laws

May 19, 2020

Dear Chairman Finegold, Chairman Ryan, and members of the Election Laws Committee,

We, the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, are writing in support of H. 805 and S. 459, known as the VOTES Act. Over the past year, we have witnessed rampant, renewed attempts to silence the voices of Black voters and voters of color, attacks on the capitol to overturn the 2020 election results, and we have been reminded again and again of the impunity with which police are able to take Black lives. The need to build a democracy that is more racially equitable and truly accountable to all of our communities could not be more clear. The provisions of the VOTES Act — universal mail-in voting, same day registration, and the first steps towards building election infrastructure to serve eligible incarcerated citizens — are critical to that end and, especially in 2021, absolutely necessary.

It is also long past time that Massachusetts end the de-facto disenfranchisement of eligible incarcerated voters. Although individuals serving misdemeanor convictions or incarcerated pre-trial (nearly half of incarcerated people in the Commonwealth) maintain the right to vote, virtually none of these eligible voters cast a counted ballot. This is because the realities of incarceration make casting a ballot difficult or impossible, and Massachusetts has yet to create an elections infrastructure that allows these eligible voters to overcome the myriad barriers they face. This is not only a fundamental democracy issue, but it’s a racial justice issue as hyper-policing and incarceration of Black and POC communities means that Black voters and POC voters are disproportionately those who lose their political voice to incarceration.

As a coalition that is working specifically to end the disenfranchisement of eligible incarcerated people and lift up the political voices of hyper-policed and over-incarcerated communities, we understand today’s hearing to be monumental: for the first time in Massachusetts history, the issue of jail-based disenfranchisement and the particular needs of incarcerated voters are being considered by this body as part of a larger conversation about the project of protecting democracy for all Massachusetts voters. That is a clear step forward.

We appreciate that this hearing begins to consider the question of how to ensure that all eligible incarcerated voters are able to actually cast their ballots in practice. Though we know it will be the subject of a future hearing, we also want to draw your attention to H.836 and S.474, “An Act to protect the voting rights of eligible incarcerated people,” which was informed, drafted, and supported by our coalition with the leadership of directly-impacted people. As our testimony will make clear, ending jail-based disenfranchisement requires system-wide reform. We urge you to consider H. 836 and S. 474 for that reason, and also out of concern that there may be only one bite at the apple for election reform this session, so we cannot miss the opportunity to promote the more comprehensive provisions in that legislation. We hope the committee will advance a voting rights bill that addresses the needs of people behind bars in the most robust way

H. 836 and S. 474 provide comprehensive solutions that will expand Massachusetts’ election infrastructure to meet the specific needs of eligible incarcerated voters. These bills were informed by experience, designed by directly impacted people, organizers, and local election officials to address real barriers they have encountered with common-sense solutions.

In asking this Committee to not only support the VOTES Act but also support H. 835, we are urging it to recognize that the de-facto disenfranchisement of those 7-9,000 eligible voters in Massachusetts jails — voters who are disproportionately Black and POC — is a profound and too-often overlooked democractic failure that needs to be addressed now. For many, the fact that thousands of eligible incarcerated voters are unable to participate comes as a revelation. A budding, broader awareness of jail-based disenfranchisement is the direct result of organizing and advocacy by directly impacted people who have been disenfranchised and seen the disenfranchising effects of mass incarceration.

Jail-based disenfranchisement is a system-wide problem that requires a system-wide solution:

Sheriffs are not required to maintain data that would allow us to know the true numbers of impacted people, or even allow volunteers to reach voters incarcerated on misdemeanors (several sheriffs told our coalition that beyond posting know-your-rights signs, no proactive measure could be taken to ensure that eligible voters serving misdemeanors could cast a counted ballot).

There is no legal burden on sheriffs to do anything to provide eligible voters access to the ballot, short of providing eligible voters who request a ballot application with one — and we have no way of ensuring accountability even then.

Sheriffs statewide have no consistent processes and procedures for ensuring eligible incarcerated people can vote — in some counties, sheriffs told us that eligible voters could receive an absentee ballot application if they “write” to the sheriff requesting one, in counties with ‘active’ jail-based voting programs, a jail librarian kept absentee ballot applications and relied on outside volunteers to mail completed applications, and in the majority of counties, sheriffs do not respond to our inquiries and eligible voters simply have no recourse to vote.

Those few eligible voters who do access ballot applications overwhelmingly have those ballot applications rejected — in many cases, ballot applications are held for up to 3 weeks and rejected only days before Election Day, making it impossible for eligible incarcerated voters to resolve issues with their applications.

Until 2020, we do not know of the Secretary of Commonwealth issuing regulations to elections officials on procedures for processing absentee ballot applications — as a result, elections officials including town clerks with jails in their town thought that the law of who was eligible/not eligible had changed. In short, elections officials, office-holders, and others who are responsible for ensuring full participation do not know that there are eligible voters incarcerated, and as a result we have failed to implement systems to ensure incarcerated people can cast counted ballots.

Jail-Based Disenfranchisement extends far beyond jail walls — eligible voters who have returned to community often do not participate because they believe they lost the right to vote permanently while incarcerated. That is why provisions of H. 836 and S. 474 that make jails and houses of corrections automatic voter registration agencies, and that require returning citizens be notified of their voting rights, are so critical. But as we know, voting is a habit: the best way to ensure eligible voters participate when they return to community is to ensure they participate while incarcerated in the first place.

The list of problems that encompass jail-based disenfranchisement goes on. It is a systemic issue that requires a systemic solution, and one that is best understood by those who have been disenfranchised, including members of the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition who drafted and support the Jail-Based Voting Bill. We respectfully urge the Joint Committee on Election Laws to thoughtfully review the provisions of the Jail-Based Voting Bill (H. 836 and S. 474) in addition to those strong steps forward in the VOTES Act.

We fully support the provisions of the VOTES Act, especially those like same day registration that research shows both bolsters participation and helps reduce political inequality. We note, however, that those critical provisions of the VOTES Act which were in place as temporary measures for the 2020 elections did not help incarcerated voters who were de-facto disenfranchised from exercising their voting rights. Now is a moment to not only make permanent those reforms that helped voters on the outside participate safely, but to identify and dismantle those barriers that keep disproportionately Black and POC incarcerated voters from participating at all. We support the jail-based voting provisions that are included in the VOTES Act, and we urge the committee to consider these provisions not in isolation, but along with legislation crafted and supported by directly-impacted communities in Massachusetts like S. 474 and H. 836.

Last, as this committee considers critical issues of democracy, voter access, and racial equity in our voting systems, we also urge you to think about the impact that our current system of felony disenfranchisement has on our democratic system. Although people who are incarcerated on misdemeanors, those who are civilly committed, and those who are awaiting trial retain their voting rights, thousands of people who are serving state prison sentences, also disproportionately Black people and people of color, do not have access to the ballot. They were stripped of their voting rights in 2001. Through felony disenfranchisement, combined with targeted policing and criminalization, we perpetuate racial inequity and our continued failure to reinstate voting rights for incarcerated people reinscribes these inequities each legislative session.The right to vote is fundamental and the Commonwealth must return to universal enfranchisement.

We hope the committee sends strong ballot-access language out of committee.

Signed,

The African American Coalition Committee (AACC)

The Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, including:

Criminal Justice Police Coalition (CJPC)

Decarcerate Western Massachusetts

Families for Justice as Healing

Kathleen Talbot, Holyoke Organizer for Neighbor to Neighbor

Emancipation Initiative

The F8 Foundation

The Massachusetts Voter Table

Massachusetts Prisoners and Organizers Working for Enfranchisement and Restoration (Mass POWER)

MOCHA Springfield (Men of Color Health Awareness)

The National Council for Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls

Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts

Progressive Massachusetts

The Sentencing Project

voting rights

We Need to Strengthen Democracy Here at Home in MA.

The following testimony was submitted to the Joint Committee of Election Laws in support of the VOTES Act.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Chairman Finegold, Chairman Ryan, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for shared prosperity, racial and social justice, good government and strong democracy, and sustainable infrastructure and environmental protection.

Last year, the Legislature provided voters with greater options for how to cast their ballot. We had more days available to vote early and an expanded possibility to vote by mail. It worked, it was popular, and it shouldn’t become a one-off due to COVID-19.

We need to make the electoral reforms from last year permanent as well as to build on them in order to make Massachusetts a leader in voting rights. I urge you to give a favorable report to the VOTES Act (S.459 / H.805), filed by Sen. Cindy Creem and Rep. John Lawn, which would make that happen.

The VOTES Act is a critical and comprehensive package of election reforms that will make our democracy more equitable, accessible, and secure. It includes the popular and successful reforms from last year, such as expanded early voting and vote-by-mail, as well as time-tested reforms like Same Day Registration, which would allow citizens to update their registration or register anew when they go to vote—something 20 states already allow. The VOTES Act, importantly, has reforms geared towards equity, like those aimed at ensuring eligible incarcerated citizens can actually vote, as well as election security, such as risk-limiting audits.

We would like to underscore the importance of Same Day Registration as a part of this package. In Massachusetts elections, an unnecessary and arbitrary 20-day registration cutoff disenfranchises more than 100,000 voters from participating in our elections. Given that the average American moves more than 11 times over the course of their lives, moving near Election Day could lead to disenfranchisement under the current system. Likewise, given the stress of work, family, and myriad other commitments, many voters may first start to learn about an election after the registration window has already passed. Indeed, this is the period when media coverage of elections—and thus voter information—is the strongest. But when voters seek to update their registration or register anew, they are shut out of the process.

When there are errors in voters’ registration, they are typically asked to fill out a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are cumbersome for election workers and leave voters feeling as though their votes didn’t count. And our first experiences at the polls–indeed, all of our experiences at the polls–have an impact on our voting habits throughout our lives.

Our neighboring states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut have already realized the problems with such a cutoff and adopted Election Day Registration (EDR). Maine has had EDR since the 1970s, and New Hampshire since the 1990s. EDR creates more positive experiences at the polls and, indeed, higher turnout, with studies showing an increase in turnout of approximately 5 percent. That is what a strong democracy looks like.

We would also urge the Legislature to go beyond the provisions in the VOTES Act to fully guarantee the right to vote for eligible incarcerated voters. Individuals serving misdemeanor convictions or incarcerated pre-trial maintain the right to vote but suffer from de facto disenfranchisement due to the myriad barriers they face in exercising that right. Although the Jail-Based Voting Bill (S.474 / H. 836) is not on the agenda for today’s hearing, its comprehensive measures to address this issue are essential and should be included in an omnibus voting reform package.

Over the past few months, we have seen a growing number of states unfortunately take unfounded steps to restrict voter access. In a time when democracy is increasingly under threat, we need to show our commitment to a robust democracy—and positive voting experience for all—here in Massachusetts.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

voting rights

Strengthening Democracy at Home

Each day, we seem to be hearing about new brazen efforts from reactionary state governments across the US to restrict the right to vote.

Strengthening our democracy requires federal action to protect voting rights, but it also requires action here at home. Indeed, while Massachusetts often leads other states across policy areas, we’ve been a laggard on voting rights.

The VOTES Act would change that The bill would make the reforms that worked for voters last fall permanent, like mail-in voting and expanded early voting. And it will do more to ensure administrative barriers to not bar Bay Staters from making their voice heard, with Same Day Registration, reforms to help eligible incarcerated people vote, and more.

The Election Modernization Coalition will be hosting a virtual lobby lunch on the VOTES Act tomorrow — Tuesday, May 11, from noon to 1:30 pm.

You can RSVP for tomorrow’s VOTES Act lobby lunch here.

Also Wanted: Democracy in the MA State House

Back in February, the MA House and MA Senate both passed sets of Joint Rules to govern how the Legislature operates.

But due to opposition to basic transparency measures from the MA House, the Conference Committee negotiating a final set of rules (behind closed doors) has yet to come to an agreement.

The transparency measures passed by the Senate are both essential and non-controversial:

Publishing full committee roll call votes online
Making testimony accessible to the public with appropriate redactions (as with any other public record)
Extending the notice period for hearings to one week

All of these steps will help legislators do their own jobs better and strengthen the participatory nature of our democracy.

There’s so much work to do this session, and the House needs to stop delaying the passage of Joint Rules.

Can you email your state legislators in support of transparency in the Joint Rules?

Representation Matters! Redistricting Training for Trainers

Training Dates: Thursday, May 13, 1 pm to 3 pm & Wednesday, May 19, 6 pm to 8 pm

Join the Drawing Democracy Coalition to learn about the impact of redistricting on your community and how you can help ensure that your community has the power to elect representatives of choice for the next decade.

These workshops will prepare community groups and leaders to engage their members in the redistricting process. Topics covered will include:

How to communicate the importance and process of redrawing district lines with your community
Defining and mapping your community of interest
How to support the Drawing Democracy Coalition’s goal to create a state-wide unity map that empowers immigrants, people of color, and low-income voters.

redistricting transparency voting rights

Beacon Hill Voted to Uphold Disenfranchisement — Behind Closed Doors

In only two states — Vermont and Maine — individuals with felony convictions never lose their right to vote.

Massachusetts used to be another, until that right was taken away twenty years ago by both state legislators and the public in a racist backlash to political organizing by incarcerated individuals.

Full enfranchisement provides individuals with a link to the outside community that facilitates the goals of rehabilitation and reentry and recognizes that the right to vote is sacred and should not be taken away when the flaws and biases of our criminal legal system are so clear.

Over the past few years, activists have been pushing for Massachusetts to restore voting rights, but the Legislature, given an opportunity to do so last week, instead voted down a proposal — and did so in secret.

Because the House and Senate have yet to agree on a set of Joint Rules (including how and whether to post committee votes), no vote was posted.

By hiding how they voted, the MA legislature continues endorsing and affirming our racist history of disenfranchisement without accountability to the public – a dual loss for democracy.

So what’s next?

Although the Legislature gave an adverse report to the full goal of voting rights restoration, there is still important work to be done to ensure that those who do still have the right to vote are able to exercise that right.

Citizens who are incarcerated on non-felony convictions or held on pre-trial convictions retain their right to vote. But without a system in place to provide these citizens with access to ballot applications, voting materials, and deadlines, that right is rendered meaningless.

This leads to a de facto disenfranchisement of as many as 10,000 incarcerated citizens.

Sen. Adam Hinds and Reps. Liz Miranda and Chynah Tyler have a bill this session — the Jail-Based Voting Act — to create a long overdue system to provide citizens behind the wall with meaningful access to the ballot.

The bill would require sheriffs to provide all eligible voters ballot applications, voting materials, and a private place to vote; improve registration of returning citizens; create a robust data reporting system for such work; and more.

Can you email your state legislators in support of the Jail-Based Voting Act?

transparency voting rights