Great News! Early Voting and Other Election Reforms Passes House today; see article below STATE CAPITOL BRIEFS - AFTERNOON EDITION - WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE VOTES FOR ELECTION SYSTEM REFORMS Early voting and online voter registration would be deployed in Massachusetts under compromise legislation approved Wednesday by the Massachusetts House. The bill (H 4072) would also allow 16- and 17-year-old to pre-register to vote before they turn 18 and implement post-election audits to ensure the integrity of voting system being used in cities and towns around the state. The bill does not include a measure that had been approved by the Senate to allow voters to register on election day. Rep. Jamie Murphy, a Weymouth Democrat and chair of the Election Laws Committee, said taken together the bill would encourage more voter participation, particularly among youth voters, and reduce wait times at polling locations. Massachusetts would become the 33rd state to implement some type of early voting starting in 2016 when voters would be able to cast ballots 11 days before the general election. The former town clerk in his hometown of Norfolk, Republican Rep. Shawn Dooley said the bill, if passed, will not overburden his former colleagues. Brighton Rep. Michael Moran, the former Election Laws Committee co-chairman, noted Massachusetts ranked 42nd among the 50 states on Rock The Votes scorecard, but predicted the Bay State would vault into the top 10 if the bill is signed into law. The House approved the bill 145-4, with Republican Reps. Matthew Beaton, Ryan Fattman, Marc Lombardo and Jim Lyons voting against the bill. Rep. Ellen Story, of Amherst, congratulated Murphy on getting the bill to the floor for a vote and bringing interest groups together after she said she has spent years working on these same issues. - M. Norton, M. Murphy/SHNS
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 19:06:35 +0000
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