Gov. Baker’s VOTES Act Will Make Voting Easier than Ever

~ With thanks to Town Clerk Briget Rodrigue for her input

  • Right on schedule, official Massachusetts ‘Vote by Mail’ applications have landed in Bedford voters’ mailboxes.  July 23 was the target date set by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to deliver the applications. Voters should expect to receive their mail-in ballots shortly after submitting the application.  And note, both the application and mail-in ballot come with prepaid postage to make the process easy.

With the passage in June of Gov. Charlie Baker’s VOTES Act, vote-by-mail became permanent, along with expanded early in-person voting options and extended access to the ballot for eligible incarcerated residents. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, no-excuse mail-in voting was temporarily allowed. The VOTES Act makes permanent many temporary pandemic-related changes.

Of course, you can still go to the polls on voting day if you prefer to cast your vote in person.  In Bedford, voting day traditionally has been a time for socializing, greeting friends and neighbors, and catching up on local news. But for others, a trip to the polls perhaps required time off from work, the need for child care, or transportation for persons with disabilities. Passage of the VOTES Act makes the act of voting that much easier and more accessible.

A potential “hitch” occurred in early July when Republican lawmakers tried to stop the VOTES Act,  on the grounds that it offered the possibility of election fraud but the MA Supreme Court voted on July 11 that the Act is indeed constitutional.

Get The Bedford Citizen in your inbox!



Dates to remember in preparing to vote in the September 6 Massachusetts Primary

  • Aug. 27: The deadline to register to vote (10 days before the Sept. 6 primary)
  • Aug. 29: The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot
  • Aug. 27-Sept. 2: Early voting period for the September 6 Primary
  • Sept. 6: Primary Election Day

At the July 25 Select Board meeting, Town Clerk Brigid Rodriguez reviewed the VOTES Act.  In response to a question about possible delays in the U.S. mail, which might make some voters anxious about mail-in ballots, Rodriguez emphasized that the ballots are clearly marked and will be fast-tracked by the postal service.  The Sept. 6 primary falls on a day when school is in session so the Police Department will provide an extra detail to make sure parking goes smoothly and there is no interference with the regular school schedule.

Massachusetts now joins the 27 states and Washington, D.C.,  which offer “no-excuse” absentee voting, meaning that any voter can request and cast an absentee/mail ballot, no excuse or reason necessary. Eight states conduct elections entirely by mail (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington), which means voters do not need to request a ballot, and instead automatically receive one. The remaining states require a voter to provide an excuse to qualify for an absentee/mail ballot.  [Source: National Conference of State Legislatures.]

2020 Early Voting & Vote by Mail Statistics

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin reported about the 2020 election on his website:

“In 2020, the way Massachusetts voters cast their ballots underwent a dramatic change. In previous years, a typical election saw approximately 3-5% of Massachusetts voters cast their ballots by mail through the absentee voting process. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, far greater numbers of voters cast ballots by mail in the November 3, 2020 election, resulting in lower in-person voting numbers on Election Day and during the early voting period.
“In 2020, voters had 3 options to cast their ballots: in person on Election Day, in person during the early voting period, or by mail. “

Bedford’s 2020 election statistics have also been published: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele20/early-voting_20/ev20idx.htm

  • Ballots cast, by mail: 4,777 (53.7%)
  • Ballots cast, early in-person: 2190 (24.6%)
  • Ballots cast, on Election Day: 1935 (21.7%)

Total – 8,902

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Subscribe
Notify of

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Keith Bayen
July 27, 2022 9:23 pm

Why is this mentioned as Charlie Baker’s vote act? Didn’t this go through the normal legislative process?

All Stories

What’s Bedford Thinking about the Red Sox?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Junior Landscaping
Go toTop