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, Giám đốc điều hành của 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, Giám đốc của 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, giám đốc điều hành, Liên đoàn cử tri nữ 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, Giám đốc điều hành của 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:
Nguyên nhân chung Massachusetts
ACLU of Massachusetts
MASSPIRG
Bỏ phiếu hàng loạt
League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
Bảng cử tri Massachusetts
Luật sư về Quyền Dân sự
1199SEIU Massachusetts
Hành động vì công bằng
Alternatives for Community and Environment
American Federation of Teachers-MA
Lời hứa của người Mỹ
Đứng lên vì công lý xã hội
Berkshire Democratic Brigades
Black Directors’ Network
Black Economic Justistic Institute
Liên minh mục sư da đen của vùng Boston, Inc.
Boston Democratic Socialists of America
Liên minh Boston Ten Point
Dự án Boston Ujima
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
Công ty TNHH City Mission
Clean Water Action MA
Coaltion for Social Justice
Quảng trường Codman NDC
Quỹ Luật Bảo tồn
Criminal Justice Reform Task Force of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative – DSNI
End Mass Incarceration Together
Liên đoàn Môi trường Massachusetts
Công dân bình đẳng
ForwardMA
Four Freedoms Coalition
Quận Franklin Tiếp tục Cuộc Cách mạng Chính trị
Hiệp hội khu phố Garrison Trotter
Generation Citizen Massachusetts
Trung tâm Từ bi Greater Boston Nazarene Inc.
Hội đồng quốc gia của phụ nữ da đen khu vực Boston
Vườn nho Martha không thể chia cắt
Không thể chia cắt Northampton
Mũi đất ngoài không thể chia cắt
iVOTE
Jetpac
Liên minh Do Thái vì Luật pháp và Hành động Xã hội
Hội đồng quan hệ cộng đồng Do Thái của Greater Boston
La Comunidad, Inc
Lift+Every+Vote
MA Association of Community Development Corporations
MAPS-Liên minh những người nói tiếng Bồ Đào Nha Massachusetts
March For Our Lives: Massachusetts
Liên minh quần chúng của người thuê nhà HUD
Mass Communities Action Network
Sự bình đẳng của khối lượng
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Viện cải cách luật pháp Massachusetts
Hành động vì hòa bình của Massachusetts
Liên minh Phụ nữ da màu Massachusetts
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
MITvote
NAACP-Chi nhánh Boston
National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter
Hàng xóm với hàng xóm Massachusetts
New England United for Justice
Công ty Phát triển Lãnh đạo Tiếp theo
Phiếu bầu phi lợi nhuận
PHENOM
Planned Parenthood
Nhà thờ Pleasant Hill Baptist
Prince Hall Grand Lodge của Massachusetts
Đảng Dân chủ Tiến bộ của Massachusetts
Progressive For Democracy in America
Massachusetts tiến bộ
Dự án RIGHT
Hội đồng nhà cung cấp- CareVote
Quincy Geneva Tầm nhìn mới CDC
Công lý chủng tộc đang trỗi dậy
Lấy lại nền dân chủ của chúng ta
Right to the City Boston
Nơi của Rosie
Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter
Viện hành tinh nhỏ
Somerville Democratic City Committee
Sunrise Movement Boston
The Equal Democracy Project at Harvard Law School
Dự án Chi phí thực sự của nhà tù
Đường ống dẫn nước cho sự thay đổi của phụ nữ
Toxics Action Center
Dự án Văn hóa Chuyển đổi
Liên minh các khu phố thiểu số
Hành động quần chúng của Unitarian Universalist
Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020
Liên tôn Worcester
Những người Dân chủ trẻ tuổi của Massachusetts
YWCA Cambridge
YWCA Malden
YWCA Đông Nam 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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