It is one of several proposals pending at the Statehouse to make
voting more convenient to increase voter turnout.
Another proposal would allow same-day registration of voters so no
advance registration would be needed to vote in an election, and some
support is also gathering to allow early voting, so voters could go to
city or town hall and cast a ballot up to two weeks before an election.
Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr., D-Worcester, who proposed the absentee
amendment and is co-chairman of the committee, said people must now
provide a reason they need to vote by mail.
That requirement is embedded in the state constitution, which means
changing it will take several years.
To be adopted, the bill must be approved by the legislators at two
annual state Constitutional Conventions, and then be put before voters
in the next general election. A favorable recommendation from the
committee this week puts it up for consideration by lawmakers at the
Constitutional Convention this fall. The action was required to meet an
April 27 deadline for constitutional amendments.
At this point, Mr. Augustus said, the change, if approved, could end
up before voters in the 2006 general election and could take effect for
the
2008 election.
“People could vote by absentee ballot for whatever reason they see
fit,” he said, a practice already used in 26 states. “It may be a busy
election and they don’t want to wait in line. They may be busy taking
care of a loved one or they may be in the hospital.”
“We have had it backward for a few years doing what was convenient
for government, not what was convenient for voters,” Mr. Augustus said.
He said a number of other proposals that would not require a
constitutional change, including same-day registration, or early voting,
would be brought forward in a more comprehensive Enhanced Voter Act to
be filed in the coming weeks. If adopted this year, he said, those
changes could be in place for next year’s gubernatorial, congressional
and Senate elections.
“The time has come to look at these outdated laws that do not match
our lifestyle,” Madhu Sridhar, president of the League of Women Voters
of Massachusetts, said of the absentee voting amendment the group helped
draft.
“We very strongly feel that unconditional absentee voting will allow
people to vote who otherwise would be unable to get to polls,” including
child care workers, people working two jobs and people caring for small
children and seniors, she said.
“We have to move along with the times. Mass. has one of the most
restrictive absentee ballot laws in the United States,” she said, adding
that no one verifies the excuses listed on absentee ballot applications
now. “We want to make sure anyone qualified to vote is allowed to vote.”
She said the group also wants to allow absentee voting forms to be
downloaded over the Internet.
Mr. Augustus said last year’s presidential election raised new
concerns.
“We shouldn’t see a lot of the horror stories we saw in Ohio, and in
other states, where some people were waiting six, seven or even eight
hours to vote,” Mr. Augustus said. “You are disenfranchising the
elderly, the disabled and people with little kids at home, who can’t
spend six or eight hours in line.
“We ought to be asking why more people are not voting. I don’t think
there is a silver bullet. I think it will take a combination of things.
But the infrastructure of voting ought to be absolutely as convenient as
possible,”
Mr. Augustus said.
The committee recommended against a proposed constitutional amendment
that would turn state redistricting over to an independent commission.
The measure, supported by Common Cause, will be forwarded to the
Constitutional Convention with a recommendation it should not be
adopted.
While supporters say it would free the drawing of lines from
political influence and gerrymandering, Mr. Augustus said, his objection
was that it could create political imbalance in the drawing of
congressional district lines.
If Republican-dominated states such as Texas continued to allow
political influence in drawing congressional districts, he said, it
could put states with independent redistricting at a partisan political
disadvantage nationally.
Mr. Augustus said, however, he did not object to an independent
commission to draw state representative and Senate districts.
