In 2022, Governor Baker signed the VOTES Act into law, expanding access to the ballot in Massachusetts.

The bill, An Act Fostering Voting Opportunities, Trust, Equity, and Security or the VOTES Act, was the largest expansion of voting access in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in years.

The VOTES Act made several permanent changes to Massachusetts’ election laws, including: allowing voters to vote by mail without an excuse; expanding early voting options; making sure that eligible voters who are incarcerated are able to request a mail ballot and vote; ensuring that the Commonwealth joins the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to keep voter registration rolls up-to-date; and more. The new law also reduced the voter registration deadline prior to an election from twenty days to ten.

The VOTES Act, sponsored by state Representative John Lawn and Senator Cindy Creem, won strong support from the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition, a coalition of advocacy organizations working to modernize the Commonwealth’s election laws.

The VOTES Act built more equitable, accessible, and secure elections in Massachusetts.

Our democracy works best when everyone can make their voice heard, and hold government accountable. The VOTES Act included:

• Mail-in voting
• Expanded early voting options
• Jail-based voting reforms
• Corrected Automatic Voter Registration
• A deadline to implement the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)

Together, these reforms improved equity and access to the ballot for all eligible voters, strengthened our elections infrastructure, and built more secure elections.

Endorsements

The VOTES Act received broad support by statewide and local organizations, labor unions, businesses, faith-based groups and more. See the full list:

ACLU MA

Action for Equity

Amalgamated Bank

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New England

American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts

American Promise

Amplify Latinx

Arise for Social Justice

Black Boston COVID19 Coalition

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)

Black Economic Justice Institute

Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.

Boston Ten Point Coalition

Boston Ujima Project

Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association

College Bound Dorchester

Common Cause Massachusetts

City Life / Vida Urbana

City Mission, Inc.

Coalition for a Better Acre

Coalition for Social Justice

Codman Square NDC

College Bound Dorchester

Community Action Works Campaigns

Conservation Law Foundation

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Edgartown Democratic Town Committee

Environmental League of Massachusetts

Equal Citizens Forward MA

Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution

Freedom House

Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association

Generation Citizen

Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center Inc.

Greater Boston Section-National Council of Negro Women

GSM Labor Council

Immigrants’ Assistance Center, Inc. (IAC)

Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard

Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition

Indivisible Outer Cape

iVOTE

Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston

Jetpac Resource Center

Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA)

La Colaborativa

La Comunidad, Inc.

Lawrence Partnership

Lawyers for Civil Rights

Lift Every Vote

League of Women Voters MA

Lowell Votes

Madison Park Development Corporation

MAPS-Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers

Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants

Mass Equality

Mass NOW

Mass. Assoc. of Community Development Corporations

Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement

Massachusetts Communities Action Network

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Massachusetts Peace Action

Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition

MASSCreative

MASSPIRG

MASSPIRG Students

MassVOTE

Massachusetts Voter Table

Microsoft

MITvote

More Than Words

NAACP-Boston Branch

Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts

Next Leadership Development Corporation

Nonprofit Vote

Planned Parenthood MA

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church

Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts

Progressive Massachusetts

Progressives for Democracy in America

Project R.I.G.H.T.

Providers’ Council- CareVote

Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts

Quincy Geneva New Vision CDC

Racial Justice Rising

Reclaim Our Democracy

Roca Inc.

Rosie’s Place

Salesforce

SEIU 1199

Shana Bryant Consulting Services

Small Planet Institute

Sunrise Boston

The Boston Foundation

The Good Governance Project – BC Law

The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization

The Real Cost of Prisons Project

The Women’s Pipeline for Change

Transformative Culture Project

Union of Minority Neighborhoods

Unitarian Universalist Mass Action

UTEC Inc.

VOTE New Bedford

Voter Choice Massachusetts

Worcester Interfaith

Yes – Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance

Young Democrats of Massachusetts

YWCA Malden

YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts