{"id":1305,"date":"2021-01-28T13:37:04","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T18:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/?p=1305"},"modified":"2021-01-28T13:37:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T18:37:04","slug":"a-more-perfect-election-which-covid-election-reforms-massachusetts-should-keep-and-what-needs-to-be-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/2021\/01\/28\/a-more-perfect-election-which-covid-election-reforms-massachusetts-should-keep-and-what-needs-to-be-fixed\/","title":{"rendered":"A More Perfect Election: Which COVID Election Reforms Massachusetts Should Keep And What Needs To Be Fixed"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the COVID-19 pandemic will no doubt be remembered as one of our nation\u2019s most tragic events there may be at least one bright spot that emerges from an otherwise catastrophic era: a ground up rethinking of elections systems. It\u2019s was not ideal timing; many voters believed<\/span><\/a> that the 2020 general election was the most important in a generation and also feared that mass voting system reform would wreak havoc<\/span><\/a>. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 election experience offers the opportunity to create needed and lasting improvements to our electoral system.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Legislature prepared for the pandemic election by passing \u201cAn Act Relative to Voting Options in Response to Covid-19<\/span><\/a>\u201d a few months before the September 1, 2020 primary. The Act provided for early voting before the primary and greatly \"\"<\/a>expanded access to mail-in voting for both the primary and general election. Most of the Act\u2019s provisions expired on December 31, 2020, but this may be for the best; the Legislature should develop a more permanent election reform bill during the new legislative session. Below are provisions lawmakers should keep\u2014and scrap.<\/span><\/p>\n

KEEP: No-excuse vote-by-mail option for both primary and general elections.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Current Massachusetts law<\/a><\/span> allows no-excuse mail-in voting only for biennial general elections. In other elections<\/span><\/a> a voter must be either absent from their municipality or physically disabled to qualify for mail-in voting. The recent act allowing mail-in voting for the primary should become the norm.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>Of the estimated 18.9 million registered voters who did not cast a ballot in 2016, 19.3% percent cited reasons<\/span><\/a> (see table 4) such as transportation problems, busy schedules, inconvenient polling places\u2014and another 3% simply forgot. When Colorado implemented all-mail voting in 2014, election turnout increased 9.4% overall<\/span><\/a>. The biggest gains were with traditionally low turnout groups: younger voters (16.6% increase), blue-collar workers (10%), and minority voters (13.2% for Black voters, 10% for Latinx voters, and 11.2% for Asian voters). Utah<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>and other states increasing vote-by-mail saw similar increases in turnout.\u00a0 <\/span>This year, 1,705,388 voters<\/span><\/a> participated in the Massachusetts primary; the highest raw vote count ever<\/span><\/a> for a primary. Granted, there was great voter enthusiasm due to contentious US Senate race between Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Joe Kennedy, but a lot of credit should go to the COVID-19 election reforms since about half<\/span><\/a> of the ballots were sent by mail. In a state where non-Presidential Primary elections have peaked<\/i> around 26% in the last 30 years, there\u2019s no doubt that mail-in balloting is the way to keep this number rising in future.<\/span><\/p>\n

SCRAP: Mail-in Ballot Applications.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Currently<\/a><\/span>, Massachusetts requires voters to fill out and return an application to receive their mail-in ballots. Legislators should scrap this unnecessary and costly hurdle and join 10 other states<\/span><\/a> that mail ballots to all registered voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, the application requirement costs the Commonwealth a lot of money. Undoubtedly, the state made the right move by mailing applications to every voter\u2014but paid postage for at least 4.6 million pieces of mail one-way, and millions more that were returned.\u00a0 <\/span>There is also the cost of labor to prepare the mailings and process the returned applications. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin estimated<\/span><\/a> that each of the two mailings cost around $5 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondly, mail-in ballot applications are a superfluous hurdle to casting a vote in a primarily mail-in election regime. To a voting populace that already has difficulty meeting registration deadlines or remembering election day<\/span><\/a>, an application requirement presents yet another step to forget and a deadline that can easily be missed. Mailing ballots directly to voters eliminates this unnecessary barrier to entry and ensures that every voter receives a ballot in a timely manner, no hoop-jumping required.<\/span><\/p>\n

KEEP: Ballot Drop Boxes.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The July bill added the option of returning mail-in ballots<\/span><\/a> \u201cvia a secured municipal drop box.\u201d This was a huge win for both busy voters who are skeptical of the USPS<\/span><\/a> and for the Commonwealth, which saves money on the return postage. This is a long-term change reflected in the written statutes and should be a positive change in all future elections!<\/span><\/p>\n

SCRAP: Election Day Deadline for Receiving Ballots.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Current Massachusetts law<\/span><\/a> only allows counting late ballots if they come from overseas. In the COVID Act, the legislature adopted a 3-day extension for ballots postmarked by election day for the November general election, but not the primary election.\u00a0 <\/span>This distinction lead to an unsuccessful legal challenge<\/span><\/a> by a candidate in the Democratic race for the Fourth Congressional District. 8,000 ballots were later rejected<\/span><\/a> for arriving past the deadline. Given the recent problems with the USPS<\/span><\/a>, the election day receipt deadline simply won\u2019t cut it.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>The 3-day window was a good starting point, but it is falls woefully short of the laws in other states. In 2020, 24 states have receipt deadlines<\/span><\/a> of at least<\/i> 5 days, and of those, 14 states allow ballots to be counted even beyond 5 days. It\u2019s difficult to pinpoint the appropriate amount of time needed here in the Bay State without more data, but there\u2019s no reason that progressive Massachusetts should have anything shorter than a 5-day late ballot allowance.<\/span><\/p>\n

BONUS: Add extended cure period for defective mail-in ballots.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Massachusetts State House
Boston, 1787<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/span>It\u2019s unavoidable that a certain amount of ballots will be returned unsigned or in the wrong envelope. In September, at least 3,000 ballots<\/span><\/a> were discarded because of a defect. Although Massachusetts is one of 18 states with a \u201ccure provision\u201d<\/span><\/a> that allows voters to fix the defect with their mail-in ballot, there is room for improvement. In 2020, when the clerk received a defective mail-in ballot, the official must mail the voter a form explaining that their ballot was rejected and a substitute ballot, but only if \u201cthere is clearly []sufficient time for the voter to return another ballot<\/span><\/a>.\u201d (950 C.M.R. \u00a7 47.10(5)(b)).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Massachusetts should make two important changes to ensure every voter has their ballot counted. First, change the methods of notification. Massachusetts should copy Hawaii and Rhode Island<\/span><\/a> and allow election officers to notify voters of a defective ballot by first-class mail, telephone and email. Second, allow voters to cure their ballot past election day.\u00a0 <\/span>Other states offer anywhere from 2 to 14 days<\/span><\/a> for voters to fix any defects in their ballots. These measures should help to close that final gap between ballots cast and votes counted.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>There are positive signs<\/span><\/a> that Massachusetts could be moving towards a primarily mail-in election future. Hopefully, the legislature will mitigate the pitfalls from this year\u2019s attempt and incorporate successful policies used by other states to ensure that all voters have a meaningful opportunity to participate.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Emily Swanson<\/strong> anticipates graduating from Boston University School of Law in May 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the COVID-19 pandemic will no doubt be remembered as one of our nation\u2019s most tragic events there may be at least one bright spot that emerges from an otherwise catastrophic era: a ground up rethinking of elections systems. It\u2019s was not ideal timing; many voters believed that the 2020 general election was the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18824,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,406,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18824"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1305"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1312,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1305\/revisions\/1312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/dome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}