October 7, 2009

By, Carole Stanley Pelchat, Vice President and Program and Action Chair

The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts urges you to support S.341 and H.576, Acts to Establish Election Day Registration.

Since its origin in 1920, the League of Women Voters has fought to protect and enhance voting rights for all its citizens, and the right of every citizen to vote has been a basic League principle, and we do consider it a “right,” not a “privilege.” Its members in Massachusetts and across the country have worked to establish the Voting Rights Act of 1965, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.  In May, 2004, the League, along with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, held a press conference identifying the Top Five Risks to Eligible Voters in 2004, which included: voter registration problems and erroneous purging[1], which have been determined to contribute to 1/4 to 1/3 of those eligible to vote not being able to vote. So we do not come recently to this issue.

In 2001, Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford said, “The registration laws in force throughout the United State are among the world’s most demanding.” This in a country, in this case a state, that prides itself on this self-same right of all its citizens to participate in the election of its lawmakers at all levels of government.

We all have become affected by the faster pace of our high-tech environment, but our registration procedures have continued to be mired in a turn-of-the century mentality. Our citizens no longer routinely live in the community of their birth, let alone the house or neighborhood of their youth. We all regularly complain of the fast pace of life, but we still deny its impact on our ability to accomplish duties that 50 years ago would be simpler, including getting to the City Clerk’s office by a specific date (which isn’t announced on CNN or FOX news) on a Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

These situations most significantly impact our youngest potential voters, who are amongst our most mobile citizens. Studies have shown that unregistered voters are less likely to take an interest in the affairs of their government, and political parties are less likely to contact unregistered voters[2].

Same Day Registration is currently working in 9 states, with higher than average turnout, fewer provisional ballots, insignificant increase in costs, and few problems with fraud[3]. We ask that you move these bills out of Committee with a positive vote and work to have them passed in the General Court. Thank you for your time and consideration.