Lid lifted on vote bill
Senate plan would expand options; some critical of one-party tone
Democratic state Senate leaders framed their plan to make mail-in voting permanent, expand early voting access and introduce sameday registration as a reprisal against “anti-democratic” regulations.
But critics say messing with voting needs bipartisan support.
“As some states act to actually restrict legally eligible voters’ access to the ballot, while no longer as blatantly racist as Jim Crow-era laws, the intended effect is, unfortunately, the same: to strip the fundamental right of voting from people of color, young people, people from low-income backgrounds and other historically disenfranchised groups,” Senate President Karen Spilka said, revealing details of the long-awaited voter reform bill on Thursday.
The Senate plans to take up the bill on Wednesday.
The bill would permanently allow voters to cast mail-in ballots without an excuse, offer in-person early voting for two weeks prior to general elections and one week ahead of primaries. Same-day registration would be available for new voters looking to cast a ballot on Election Day or any early voting day, which is current policy in 20 states plus Washington, D.C.
The bill also spells out a plan to boost ballot access for eligible incarcerated voters and people with disabilities. It would also compel compliance with a 2018 law that required Massachusetts to join a nationwide voter electronic information system that manages voter rolls, giving a deadline of July 1.
“It’s just not simply enough to protect. We need to expand that access,” Spilka said, during a press conference where Senate leaders unveiled the socalled “VOTES” Act
House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz has said the bill would cost taxpayers up to $3 million a year to pay for stamps to mail ballot applications and ballots.
Proponents argue the cost is justified as voters have embraced mail-in voting. Nearly 42% of the record 3.6 million ballots cast in the 2020 general election were mail-in ballots — more than the number of votes cast in person early or on Election Day.
But critic Paul Diego Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, called out the Democrats rhetoric as having a “very partisan tone to it.”
“Anytime election law is changed, it should be done so with buy-in from both parties and many ideological voices. Unfortunately, today’s announcement looks more like posturing for Democratic Primary elections,” Craney said.
The much-anticipated Senate plan comes nearly three months after the House passed a bill making the pandemic vote-by-mail option permanent for all voters in June. The measure passed along party lines, and with the backing of Senate leadership, it’s likely to do the same there, where Democrats also hold a supermajority.
Friction could come in the other details of the Senate’s comprehensive reform package. House members, including Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, have yet to weigh in or reveal their position on the Senate bill’s other provisions.
Temporary provisions that expanded voting access amid the pandemic are slated to expire in December.