In Massachusetts, it is still the law that voters must register to vote 20 days ahead of elections. This year our six-term incumbent Secretary of State, William Galvin, set the primary vote for September 4th and the decision to do so was recently upheld by the MA Supreme Judicial Court.
Move-in dates for many Massachusetts college students range from late August to early September, well past the cut-off time for voter registration. This makes voting extremely difficult for out-of-town college students to fulfill their duties as US citizens to vote. September 3rd is Labor Day and many college students will not even be in the area or the state to properly register by the August 15th deadline.
Normally, our state’s primary would be scheduled seven weeks before the general election, but that date (Sept. 18th) is the start of Yom Kippur, a religious holiday, and Sept.11th will not work because it is during Rosh Hashana. Still, with the 20 day registration requirement, other dates would still be viable. The Massachusetts Legislature approved automatic voter registration this year and hopes Governor Charlie Baker (R) signs it into law, making MA the 14th state with automatic voter registration.
In the meantime, not only are our students being purged, so are our many citizens who may not be back from summer holiday in time to register to vote. This equals tens of thousands of votes lost.
In some towns in MA, it is also to be noted, a yearly “census” is conducted with a small timeline to respond in order for a person to retain their voter status.
It works like this: In January of each year the town sends you a census form to fill out and you must return it, correctly completed, within ten days in order to be eligible to vote (regardless of whether or not you were registered during the last election cycle). If you do not comply, you are purged from the voter rolls. You must send the form back to your town on your own dime via a 1st class US postal stamp (making this legitimately a poll tax, no matter how small the “fee.”) This is practiced in cities from Cambridge to lesser known towns across the state. It is undoubtedly a way to discourage and disable voters, even in a “progressive” US state such as Massachusetts.
On a personal note, I anxiously await this form every year. One year, I sent this form back as instructed (ahead of time as I always do) but many months later was informed I was not registered to vote (just before the 2016 elections, to be exact). At that point, I went to the voter registration office in my town and demanded a certified stamp/receipt that I was a registered voter in Massachusetts. I, nor anyone else, should have to do this. It is an attempt to minimize the vote and it is not constitutional.
Back to our tired Secretary of State: Six-term incumbent William Galvin is being challenged this year by Boston City Councillor, Josh Zakim, a progressive community activist and attorney along the lines of our amazing, bank/ball-busting senator, Elizabeth Warren. He promises to hold big businesses accountable, make voting easier & more secure and has vowed a commitment to equality and inclusiveness. Please support Zakim and all progressive candidates.
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“Go at it boldly, and you'll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.”
- William Benjamin Basil King (1921)
“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” — The Handmaid’s Tale (2018)
Edit: To better understand this situation, note that there are over 100 colleges in Massachusetts with thousands upon thousands of college students in attendance. Now remember by how many votes trump “won” the Electoral College. The primaries are not reliant on the EC but if this were to happen during the generals, how concerning would this be to MA and the US?