For more than a decade, the Election Modernization Coalition(EMC) has had one aim: to take down every barrier to voting and modernize the way we register to vote and cast a ballot.

While going into the Presidential primary last week there was not much of a contest remaining in either party, turnout was high. In the first Presidential primary since the current no-excuse vote by mail program began in Massachusetts, over 1.2 million voters cast ballots, according to Secretary of State Galvin. While 51.8% were cast on Election Day, almost all of the remaining 48.2% of voters opted for mail ballots, equally popular in both parties. The Secretary noted that the turnout in the Republican primary was the second highest in Massachusetts history, surpassed only in 2016, and the Democratic turnout was the highest in recent history for primaries in which an incumbent president was on the ballot.

In a statement, the EMC, which advocated for years for a no-excuse vote by mail program, said, “We are truly gratified to see such wildly successful results of a vote-by-mail program in the Commonwealth. We’re grateful to the city election officials and town clerks, to the poll workers,, and to every voter who made their voice heard in this election.”