YES on 4 (Election Day Registration)
Question 4 would enable voters to register or update their registration at the polls on Election Day. 23 states and DC have already adopted this common sense reform, including our neighbors in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut.
Why YES on 4
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Election Day Registration will ensure that every eligible voter who shows up at the polls gets counted. Time for MA to join our neighbors and pass it already.
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Election Day Registration removes barriers to voting that leave too many voters behind.
- Tenants facing eviction. Seniors looking to downsize. These moves can happen at any time, including the 10 days before an election. Election Day Registration ensures that this isn’t a barrier to voting.
- No one should be disenfranchised because of a clerical error. Let’s pass Election Day Registration.
- Maine does it. New Hampshire does it. Vermont does it. Connecticut does it. And it’s a success everywhere. So why can’t MA have Election Day Registration?
Who Is Behind It?
Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin initiated the ballot committee for Question 4.
Besides the Galvin Committee, top funders of the ballot committee include the Teamsters, Eastern Bank CEO Bob Rivers, the campaign committees for Congressman Richard Neal and Congresswoman Katherine Clark, and several unions.
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Tenants moving to a new apartment after getting priced out or evicted by an unscrupulous landlord. Senior citizens looking to downsize and move into a retirement community. Under MA’s current law, if these moves happen too close to an election date, these people—and countless others like them—could lose their right to vote.
That’s because we have an arbitrary and unjust 10-day voter registration cutoff. And shockingly, we’re an outlier in New England for having a cutoff at all. In Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut, eligible voters can register to vote or update their registration at the polls. It’s a simple reform (indeed, NH and ME have done it for decades), and it can both boost engagement and improve the efficiency of election administration.
At a time when democracy is under attack, MA should be taking every step we can to strengthen our democracy. That must include Election Day Registration, which is Question 4 on the ballot this November. Let’s show our commitment to democracy and improve the voting experience for everyone.
Read More
- Brennan Center for Justice. Recommendations to Defend America’s Election Infrastructure. New York: Brennan Center for Justice, 2019. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/recommendations-defend-americas-election-infrastructure.
- Carbo, Steven, and Regina Eaton. “Voters Win with Same-Day Registration.” Demos. February 4, 2010. https://www.demos.org/policy-briefs/voters-win-same-day-registration.
- Kennedy, Liz. “Millions to the Polls: Same Day Registration.” Demos. February 28, 2014. https://www.demos.org/policy-briefs/millions-polls-same-day-registration.
- National Conference on State Legislatures. “Same Day Registration.” October 25, 2024. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-voter-registration.
- Nonprofit Vote. America Goes to the Polls 2020. Cambridge, MA: Nonprofit Vote, 2021. https://www.nonprofitvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/america-goes-polls-2020-7.pdf.
- Rapaport, Miles. “Election Reforms Really Mattered in 2018.” The American Prospect. March 21, 2019. https://prospect.org/power/election-reforms-really-mattered-2018/.
- Root, Danielle and Liz Kennedy. “Increasing Voter Participation in America: Policies to Drive Participation and Make Voting More Convenient.” Center for American Progress. July 11, 2018. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/07/11/453319/increasing-voter-participation-america/.
- US Government Accountability Office. Issues Related to Registering Voters and Administering Elections. Washington, DC: GAO, 2016. https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-630.