House Approves Automatic Voter Registration

Common sense change modernizes voter rolls, increases access to voting

Voting is at the core of our democracy. Removing barriers for people to register to vote is a way to ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate. That’s why I am proud to vote for a bill establishing an automatic voter registration system here in Massachusetts. It is a commonsense bill that will upgrade our registration system, make our voter rolls more up-to-date, enhance the security of our electoral process, and encourage new voters to get involved.

The concept is simple: move from an “opt-in” to an “opt-out” system to register to vote.

Under our legislation, when a Massachusetts citizen gives or updates their information at the RMV, MassHealth, or any other eligible automatic voter registration agency, that agency securely transmits the information to the Secretary of the Commonwealth to register them to vote. These are state agencies with which people regularly interact, and that collect relevant information like address, age, and citizenship, all of which is required to register to vote. Upon entering the information, the individual is given the option to decline registering to vote.

It’s estimated that there are about 680,000 Massachusetts residents who are eligible to vote but are not registered. This program will help increase access to the voting booth for so many populations.

Further, our legislation would require Massachusetts to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a non-profit that assists 23 other states with improving voter roll accuracy and increasing access to voter registration. This means that when someone moves out of Massachusetts and registers in another state, ERIC notifies Massachusetts of the person’s new enrollment, so their name can be removed from the Massachusetts rolls.

Understanding the sensitive nature of this personal information, our bill would prevent Address Confidentiality Program participants from being listed on publicly available street lists and from having their voter registration affidavits classified as public records. We require the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations governing the electronic transmission of voter registration affidavits to municipalities and related data security protocols.

Here in Massachusetts, we’ve continually worked on increasing civic participation, from early voting to pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds. Earlier this session, we passed legislation creating a civics curriculum in Massachusetts’ schools. Our legislation builds on this legacy of increasing democracy in Massachusetts, and prepares our population to fully and securely participate in the 2020 elections and beyond.