Voting rights organizations including Common Cause Massachusetts, MassVOTE, the League of Women Voters, and the ACLU of Massachusetts testified before the Joint Committee on Election Laws today in support of HD 5075, An Act Ensuring Safe and Participatory 2020 State Elections in Response to COVID-19. They called for the Committee to act quickly to support the bill.

HD 5075 – filed by Representatives Michael Moran and John Lawn – has been endorsed by over 100 organizations in Massachusetts, as of Thursday afternoon. More endorsements are pending.

During the hearing, supporters of HD.5075 testified that the bill will help ensure safe, participatory, and accessible elections during COVID-19, and also help protect the ability of local elections officials to manage a transition to a primarily vote-by-mail election. With the September elections only three months away and general elections, five, the advocates argued that in order for Massachusetts elections infrastructure to be able to handle the necessary changes, the committee and State House must act quickly.

“We support this bill because it is based on evidence and best practices from other states,” says Pam Wilmot of Common Cause Massachusetts. “It is comprehensive, and includes reforms that consider the needs of voters, but also of local elections officials who no matter what happens will be faced with a surge of absentee ballots and very different elections than in years past. One clear lesson learned from other states is that the necessary reforms will take all the time we have to implement, which is why we urge the Joint Committee on Election Laws to act quickly to move this critical bill.”

“Elections matter,” says Rahsaan Hall, racial justice program director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “And this particular election will not only be impacted by COVID-19, but its results will determine the leaders who will govern as our country rebuilds. We need to take immediate, aggressive action to protect and facilitate the vote this fall – by mail, in person, and in safety – in order to safeguard the ballot for everyone and avoid exacerbating systemic inequalities that particularly impact communities of color.”

Says Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, Executive Director of MassVOTE, “Through our testimony, we strived to make one thing clear: HD.5075 is the best chance Massachusetts has to adequately brace our elections for COVID19. This includes vote-by-mail; this includes expanded early voting; this includes personal protective equipment for poll workers. We know what needs to be done, so let’s do it.”

“Every voter deserves to cast a vote safely. We will work hard to ensure that voters with limited English proficiency can access multilingual materials for voting from the safety of their homes, as required by this bill,” says بيث هوانج، مديرة مكتب الناخبين في ماساتشوستس, a coalition of community organizations.

“It is critical that our fall elections are carried out in a way that assures voters and election workers can participate safely and that affirms the public’s trust in the outcome,” says باتريشيا كومفورت، المديرة التنفيذية لرابطة الناخبات في ماساتشوستس. “There is going to be a large increase in absentee ballots. We must make sure they can be handled in a way that does not cause massive disruption. Sending voters a ballot before the November election without requiring an application will help tremendously.”

“As the saying goes, in crisis there is danger and there is opportunity. This bill seizes an opportunity to make our elections fairer and safer in 2020,” says جانيت دومينيتز، المديرة التنفيذية لـ MASSPIRG.

“HD5070 lays out a clear path forward to safely enable the voters of the Commonwealth, particularly those most disenfranchised by barriers to voting, to fully participate in our democracy despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 health crisis,” says Sophia Hall, Supervising Attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston.

Organizations endorsing HD 5075 include:
قضية مشتركة ماساتشوستس
ACLU of Massachusetts
ماسبيرج
التصويت الجماعي
League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
جدول الناخبين في ماساتشوستس
محامون من أجل الحقوق المدنية
1199SEIU Massachusetts
العمل من أجل العدالة
Alternatives for Community and Environment
American Federation of Teachers-MA
الوعد الأمريكي
انهض من أجل العدالة الاجتماعية
Berkshire Democratic Brigades
Black Directors’ Network
Black Economic Justistic Institute
التحالف الوزاري الأسود في بوسطن الكبرى
Boston Democratic Socialists of America
تحالف بوسطن العشر نقاط
مشروع بوسطن أوجيما
Burlington Democratic Town Committee
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc.
Cambridge Area Stronger Together (CAST)
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Chilmark Democratic Town Committee
City Life Vida Urbana
مدينة البعثة، المحدودة
Clean Water Action MA
Coaltion for Social Justice
ساحة كودمان مركز الدفاع الوطني
مؤسسة قانون الحفاظ على البيئة
Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative – DSNI
End Mass Incarceration Together
رابطة البيئة في ماساتشوستس
مواطنون متساوون
ForwardMA
Four Freedoms Coalition
مقاطعة فرانكلين تواصل الثورة السياسية
جمعية حي جاريسون تروتر
Generation Citizen Massachusetts
مركز الناصريين الرحيم في بوسطن الكبرى
قسم بوسطن الكبرى - المجلس الوطني للنساء الزنوج
مارثا فينيارد غير قابلة للتجزئة
نورثامبتون غير قابلة للتجزئة
عباءة خارجية غير قابلة للتجزئة
اي فوت
Jetpac
التحالف اليهودي للقانون والعمل الاجتماعي
مجلس العلاقات المجتمعية اليهودية في بوسطن الكبرى
La Comunidad, Inc
Lift+Every+Vote
MA Association of Community Development Corporations
MAPS-تحالف ماساتشوستس للمتحدثين باللغة البرتغالية
March For Our Lives: Massachusetts
تحالف جماعي لمستأجري HUD
Mass Communities Action Network
المساواة الجماعية
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
معهد إصلاح القانون في ماساتشوستس
حركة السلام في ماساتشوستس
تحالف نساء ماساتشوستس ذوات البشرة الملونة
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
تصويت معهد ماساتشوستس للتكنولوجيا
فرع NAACP في بوسطن
National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter
الجار إلى الجار ماساتشوستس
New England United for Justice
مؤسسة تطوير القيادة القادمة
تصويت المنظمات غير الربحية
PHENOM
Planned Parenthood
كنيسة بليزانت هيل المعمدانية
قاعة الأمير الكبرى في ماساتشوستس
الديمقراطيون التقدميون في ماساتشوستس
Progressive For Democracy in America
ماساتشوستس التقدمية
مشروع رايت
مجلس مقدمي الخدمات - CareVote
مركز كوينسي جينيفا نيو فيجن لمكافحة الأمراض والوقاية منها
العدالة العرقية في تصاعد
استعادة ديمقراطيتنا
Right to the City Boston
مكان روزي
Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter
معهد الكوكب الصغير
Somerville Democratic City Committee
Sunrise Movement Boston
The Equal Democracy Project at Harvard Law School
مشروع التكلفة الحقيقية للسجون
خط أنابيب المرأة من أجل التغيير
Toxics Action Center
مشروع الثقافة التحويلية
اتحاد الأحياء الأقلية
العمل الجماهيري الوحدوي العالمي
Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020
ورسستر بين الأديان
الديمقراطيون الشباب في ماساتشوستس
YWCA Cambridge
جمعية الشابات المسيحيات في مالدين
YWCA جنوب شرق ماساتشوستس

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The Election Modernization Coalition is comprised of the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause Massachusetts, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, MASSPIRG, MassVOTE, and the Massachusetts Voter Table.

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