Voting rights activists are calling on the state’s cities and towns to shape up and prepare for the coming November election, the first cycle in which Massachusetts will allow early voting.
A survey conducted by the Election Modernization Coalition, a collection of civil and voting rights advocacy groups, found that only 40 percent of the state’s 351 municipalities are in the final planning stages to execute early voting this fall. According to the survey, 35 percent of cities and towns have started planning for early voting, and 13 percent have made no plans as of July 20.
The survey, conducted by Common Cause Massachusetts, MassPIRG and the League of Women Voters, reached out to all 351 cities and towns but could not connect with 12 percent of them.
Wilmot said a recent reform law that allowed for early voting this year helps, but Massachusetts has a long way to go to catch up with other states.
“I think this is a good first step into early voting,” Wilmot said. “I think the whole package that involved a lot of other reforms was a big step. As a cradle of liberty, we should be in the forefront in election reform but we are not. We’ve now moved ahead of the pack and are, you know, maybe in the top third. But we’re certainly not in the forefront and we came from way behind.”
That law, passed in 2014, requires one location per municipality open during business hours 11 days prior to an election.
Lawmakers overturned budget vetoes from Gov. Charlie Baker that would have cut spending for early voting preparation.
At a press conference in front of Boston City Hall Thursday, Wilmot said a lot of communities felt they were “operating blind,” when it came to putting plans in place for how to implement early voting.
Wilmot says her group will continue to push Beacon Hill to allow automatic registration, election day registration and more flexible early voting.
