A day after a judge declared the state’s 20-day voter registration cutoff unconstitutional, election officials throughout the Valley worried about what it could mean for future elections in their communities.
Voting advocates, however, hailed the decision by a Suffolk Superior Court judge Monday, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts calling it “a victory for democracy.”
In that decision, Judge Douglas Wilkins ruled that a Massachusetts requirement that eligible voters register at least 20 days before an election violates the state constitution and potentially disenfranchises thousands of voters.
Although a new registration timeline remains unclear, the ruling could have effects in voting laws throughout the country, experts said. In Massachusetts, the Legislature will now need to update voter registration rules.
Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, told the Associated Press that it’s time to modernize the state’s voter registration system, noting that the best options include automatic voter and same-day registration.
In a statement released Monday, Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said Massachusetts should lead nationwide efforts to ensure that everyone has the right to vote.
“As champions for freedom, the ACLU of Massachusetts is committed to working together with other advocates and the Massachusetts Legislature to protect and expand access to the ballot,” the statement said.
Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who oversees elections, said his office plans to appeal.
“We continue to work to make registration as easy and convenient as possible, but this decision would lead to a standardless procedure that would cause administrative chaos,” the statement from Galvin’s office said.
Local town and city clerks are working through the decision to figure out what it could mean for their offices in the coming elections.
Easthampton City Clerk Barbara LaBombard said she worries the state will wait until the last minute to put a new deadline in place. Removing the 20-day cutoff would require the clerks to change their entire process and compact everything they do in 20 days into a shorter amount of time.
“We need to have time to prepare and plan for these changes,” she said. “We can’t just magically come up with a voter’s list.”
Amherst Town Clerk Sandra Burgess called a change in the deadline “a major administrative burden.” Before any presidential election, she said she receives 3,000 to 5,000 new voters. She said she worries what the fallout might be if that same number of voters waited to register until a few days before an election.
The clerk’s offices spend the 20 days after the voter registration deadline passes preparing for the upcoming election day. Staffs work to enter those who registered before the deadline into an electronic database. This database will then be printed and given to all polling sites.
Most of the time, those working at the polling site are working on paper, South Hadley Town Clerk Carlene Hamlin said. A voter will walk in and give their name to a poll worker who will then find the name and check in each voter using a red pen on a piece of paper. The voter then casts their vote, exits and checks out.
Keeping this manual type of work and allowing same-day registration could make election day chaotic, Hamlin said.
Currently, all Massachusetts polling sites use a printed voters list. Municipalities will soon have the option to purchase electronic polling books to use during elections, but for now, there is no set date, said Debra O’Malley, election specialist from Galvin’s office. Electronic polling books allow election officials to review their voters’ lists on a tablet or laptop in real time.
“We just need to make sure we’re armed with everything we need prior to changing the deadline,” Hamlin said. “We need to have the proper tools to do this.”
Pam Powers, Northampton’s interim city clerk, agrees that removing the 20-day deadline could make her office much busier during election season. However, she said the state can do better than that timeframe.
“We strive to give everyone every opportunity to register to vote,” Powers said. “We have so much technology. We should apply that to voter registration, and if that can help voter turnout in any way, I’m all for it.”
John Bonifaz, president of Free Speech for People and voter rights attorney, said there is no question that a 20-day cutoff disenfranchises voters.
“It’s important that we do whatever we can to remove barriers to voting,” Bonifaz said. “This barrier in Massachusetts makes no sense.”
Bill Newman, director of the ACLU of Western Massachusetts, said the cutoff disenfranchised those who do not vote regularly. People who vote every election often do not need to re-register. They can decide up until polls close whether they want to vote or not.
Those who vote less frequently, such as young people and those who are less involved in politics, have a longer process to go through to that includes registering to vote.
“If you haven’t been voting regularly, you don’t have the same flexibility,” Newman said.
He added that courts across Massachusetts should stand up for this fundamental right that is the basis of democracy.
“It’s really important to stand up and protect the rights of all people to vote,” Newman said. “Nothing is more important in democracy than participation.”