Voting Rights Advocacy Groups to Hold Press Conference on Election Day Registration Compromise for VOTES Act

On Monday February 14, 2022 @ 1pm on the steps in front of the Massachusetts State House, the Election Modernization Coalition and community leaders will host “We  Voting (and Registering on Election Day)” — an in-person press conference calling on House and Senate conference committee members to include compromise Election-Day Registration language in the final version of the VOTES Act to be sent to the Governor. Election Day Registration is a form of Same Day Registration that would allow for voters to register on election day, but not on early voting days. 

The Senate included the full Same-Day Registration language (including early voting days) in their version of the VOTES Act but the House didn’t include any version of it. Election Day Registration is a compromise between the House and Senate versions that will address many barriers to voting that disproportionately limit the political power of communities of color across Massachusetts, while accounting for the concerns raised by the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association. 

Election Day Registration is very popular with voters. A recent UMass Amherst poll showed that 65% of Massachusetts voters support it. Advocates points to it being the strongest equity provision of the bill as research shows it could boost voter turnout for Black and Latino voters upwards of 17%. 

The Election Modernization Coalition is the ACLU MA, Common Cause MA, Lawyers for Civil Rights, League of Women Voters MA, MA Voter Table, MassVOTE, and MASSPIRG.