MA Considers Making Mail-In Voting A Permanent Fixture
To adapt to the pandemic, state lawmakers passed a series of bills that expanded voting options in the Commonwealth, and now lawmakers want to see those changes become permanent.
According to a story reported on by WWLP/22 News Springfield, the Commonwealth passed a mail-in voting initiative back in July of 2020, and now lawmakers want to see those changes become permanent.
Two bills have been filed on this matter; one that would allow for extended early voting periods, mail-in voting, and same-day voter registration.
The other bill would simply extend the mail-in voting beyond the March 31 deadline.
Secretary Galvin is putting pressure on the legislature to get this short-term bill passed so that mail-in voting can be used in local elections.
Like the ones scheduled to take place in April in Ware, Hadley and South Hadley.
Secretary Galvin had this to say:
We all know the pandemic is not over, it’s certainly in a better place than it was, but many older voters, in particular, are still reluctant to leave their homes, they should not have to do so to vote.
The long-term voting expansion bill is headed to the election laws committee where it will receive a public hearing. As for the short-term voting bill, that could be brought to a vote sometime this week.
Please check out the initial story on WWLP/22 News' website here and we thank them for the update.
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