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, was strongly supported by 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