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 Beth Huang, directrice de la Massachusetts Voter Table, 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 Patricia Comfort, directrice exécutive de la Ligue des électrices du Massachusetts. “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 Janet Domenitz, directrice exécutive de 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:
Cause commune Massachusetts
ACLU of Massachusetts
MASSPIRG
Vote en masse
League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
Tableau des électeurs du Massachusetts
Avocats pour les droits civiques
1199SEIU Massachusetts
Action pour l'équité
Alternatives for Community and Environment
American Federation of Teachers-MA
La promesse américaine
Levons-nous pour la justice sociale
Berkshire Democratic Brigades
Black Directors’ Network
Black Economic Justistic Institute
Alliance ministérielle noire du Grand Boston, Inc.
Boston Democratic Socialists of America
Coalition des dix points de Boston
Projet Ujima de Boston
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
Mission de la Ville, Inc.
Clean Water Action MA
Coaltion for Social Justice
Place Codman NDC
Fondation pour le droit de la conservation
Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative – DSNI
End Mass Incarceration Together
Ligue environnementale du Massachusetts
Citoyens égaux
ForwardMA
Four Freedoms Coalition
Le comté de Franklin poursuit sa révolution politique
Association de quartier Garrison Trotter
Generation Citizen Massachusetts
Centre de compassion nazaréen du Grand Boston Inc.
Section du Grand Boston - Conseil national des femmes noires
L'indivisible Martha's Vineyard
Northampton indivisible
Cape extérieure indivisible
iVOTE
Jetpac
Alliance juive pour le droit et l'action sociale
Conseil des relations avec la communauté juive du Grand Boston
La Comunidad, Inc
Lift+Every+Vote
MA Association of Community Development Corporations
MAPS-Alliance des lusophones du Massachusetts
March For Our Lives: Massachusetts
Alliance de masse des locataires du HUD
Mass Communities Action Network
Égalité des masses
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Institut de réforme du droit du Massachusetts
Action pour la paix dans le Massachusetts
Coalition des femmes de couleur du Massachusetts
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
vote du MIT
Section de Boston de la NAACP
National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter
De voisin à voisin Massachusetts
New England United for Justice
Prochaine société de développement du leadership
Vote à but non lucratif
PHENOM
Planned Parenthood
Église baptiste de Pleasant Hill
Prince Hall Grande Loge du Massachusetts
Démocrates progressistes du Massachusetts
Progressive For Democracy in America
Massachusetts progressiste
Projet DROIT
Conseil des prestataires de services - CareVote
Quincy Genève Nouvelle Vision CDC
La justice raciale en plein essor
Réclamons notre démocratie
Right to the City Boston
Chez Rosie
Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter
Institut des petites planètes
Somerville Democratic City Committee
Sunrise Movement Boston
The Equal Democracy Project at Harvard Law School
Projet sur le coût réel des prisons
Le pipeline des femmes pour le changement
Toxics Action Center
Projet de culture transformatrice
Union des quartiers minoritaires
Action de masse des unitariens universalistes
Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020
Association interreligieuse de Worcester
Jeunes démocrates du Massachusetts
YWCA Cambridge
YWCA Malden
YWCA du sud-est du Massachusetts

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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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