A legislative committee has begun crafting an omnibus bill to make changes to the state’s election laws, an aide to Election Laws Committee co-chair Sen. Barry Finegold told the News Service on Monday.
“Senator Finegold wanted me to let you know that the committee is still working on the bill you asked about, and right now they are currently going through all of the bills in the committee,” the Andover Democrat’s spokeswoman said in an email when asked about the prospect of a comprehensive election law proposal. “He has no further comment.”
The acknowledgement that a bill is in the works came after a voting rights group, the New Democracy Coalition, sent letters to Finegold and his co-chair, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, urging the committee to include a slew of changes to voter registration policies in an omnibus package. Michlewitz and several of the committee’s 17 members did not respond to requests for comment.
Among the changes the New Democracy Coalition called for is a proposal to permit 16- and 17-year-olds to “pre-register” to vote, filling out forms that would take effect when they turn 18. Other components sought by the group include a proposal to permit 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections, a proposal to provide for voter registration forms in public libraries, a plan to enhance poll worker training, a proposal to audit election results, and a plan to make polling places more accessible to residents with disabilities.
The group also called for automatic voter registration, arguing that 200,000 eligible Massachusetts residents – including a disproportionate number of black, Latino and low-income citizens – are unregistered, diminishing their participation.
“Low voter participation is a source of poor civic engagement which negatively impacts poor communities where high levels of civic engagement is needed,” Kevin Peterson, director of the New Democracy Coalition, wrote in the letter to Finegold and Michlewitz.
Legislative leaders have not publicly identified election law reforms as a priority for the six months left in formal sessions this year and it’s unclear whether activists can generate momentum behind a bill.
Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Dorchester) said he is working with the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus to file a bill to support automatic registration efforts.
“The point is to get as many people registered to vote and empower as many people as possible,” he said in a phone interview.
Avi Green, executive director of MassVote, and Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause, told the News Service that the proposal to permit 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote has gathered momentum in recent years.
Noting that 1.5 million eligible Massachusetts residents failed to vote in 2008, Green also said he hoped to see action on a bill to establish Election Day registration for voters and a bill to permit voters to register to vote online. He also pointed to a bill supported by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain) and Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge) that would enable voters to maintain active voter registration when they move within Massachusetts.
“We should realize that Massachusetts voting laws are out of date and they need a tune-up before the elections,” Green said. “I think there is a consensus that we want to do something in time for the elections.”
Green also said he hopes the Legislature will act to preempt the impact of a Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate and labor spending to influence elections. The decision, known as Citizens United, paved the way for so-called Super PACs, funds that have made large and often anonymous ad buys in the early presidential primary states.
“We’re going to see them here. We can expect super PACs starting to intervene in state elections,” he said.
Wilmot, of Common Cause Massachusetts, also supported updates to state laws to reflect the impact of Citizens United, and she said she hopes pre-registration, equipment audits and online registration bills win the committee’s backing.
