Election Day Registration
Bill Passes Committee
An important step toward a widely heralded reform was taken
yesterday by the Joint Committee on Election Laws on Beacon
Hill. After several months of review, that committee released
HB646, an Act That Would Establish Election
Day Registration in Massachusetts, with a favorable report.
“In a year when our state and national elections are drawing
record attention, it couldn’t be a better time to demonstrate the
Commonwealth’s commitment to democracy by giving citizens this great tool for
participation,” said Janet S. Domenitz, Executive Director of MASSPIRG, a
proponent of election day registration. “Committee chairmen Rep. Garrett
Bradley and Sen. Ed Augustus are to be congratulated for this action.”
Just a few weeks ago on primary day, record numbers of
voters turned out to exercise their right to vote. Election day registration
would capitalize on this kind of interest and extend the franchise to even more
citizens.
Massachusetts
would become the eighth state in the country to adopt this reform. As it stands
now, voters wanting to participate in an election in Massachusetts are required by law to
register 21 days in advance of an election. “The phrase is almost 40 years out
of date,” commented Domenitz, “but if we can put a man on the moon we can
certainly figure out how to register someone to vote on Election Day.”
A broad coalition has been pushing this reform, including
MassVote, Common Cause of MA, the League of Women Voters, and many others. At
the initial State House hearing on the bill in May, 2007, hundreds of people
showed up to support the bill, and those who testified in favor included
Secretary of State William Galvin, as well as the chief sponsors of the bill
Sen. Cynthia Creem and Rep. Gloria Fox.
The bill still has to go through several more steps in the process
before final passage. Supporters anticipate that if the bill reaches his desk,
Governor Deval Patrick would sign it.
