Posted on 07/14/2018 8:13:28 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Senate passed automatic voter registration on Thursday, moving the bill one step closer to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk.
The bill already passed the House, but differences between the bills will still have to be reconciled before a final version reaches the governor. It passed the Senate unanimously, 38-0.
"It should be the state's burden to register voters - not yours," said Senate President Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, in a statement. Chandler said long work hours and confusion about the voter registration process are barriers for many citizens.
Under the bill, H.4671, any adult Massachusetts citizen who completes a transaction at the Registry of Motor Vehicles or signs up for MassHealth would be automatically registered to vote. People could still choose to opt out.
The goal is to get more eligible voters onto the rolls. Supporters of the bill estimate that up to 680,000 eligible voters could eventually become registered to vote.
The bill would be implemented in time for the 2020 elections.
Baker has not yet taken a position on the bill. Lawmakers must get the bill to his desk by July 21 if they want to avoid being in a position where they are no longer in session to override a potential veto.
If the bill becomes law, Massachusetts would become the 14th state to have some form of automatic voter registration.
"Automatic voter registration will make voting more accurate, more secure, and more available to all. That's good for democracy, for election security, and for voters," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, in a statement.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin said he is "ready to begin preparing for implementation of this crucial voting reform as soon as this bill is signed into law."
Victims of domestic violence who are enrolled in an existing address confidentiality program will be able to register to vote without their address becoming public.
The legislation also increases the penalty for voter fraud, making it punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for up to five years.
The Founders absolutely did NOT think all citizens should be enfranchised, that’s why there is no right to vote in the Constitution.
See Post 18
One of the necessary items to add to the legislation Is to have the state also automatically cast the votes — because it’s just too much work.
Gee whiz.... the last time I checked into a hotel in Mass. I had to show an ID along with my credit card.
Like with secure ID drivers licenses that are acceptable for airline security, we need a Federal law that will no longer recognize state IDs like these for voting in Federal elections.
Its the governments burden to supply the people with whatever they want in the moment they want it. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to lift a finger to do anything other than lay about on the couch and play games or facebook. Special people will spoon feed all the drooling couch potatoes soon to die from lack of activity
I have been against “motor-voter” ever since it began because of the ease of putting non-citizens on the voter rolls.
Absolutely VOTER FRAUD.
How do you become a citizen of Massachusetts? I thought states had residents, many of whom are citizens of the United States of America. Did Massachusetts leave the union and forget to tell anybody?
This infringes on the public right of freedom to choose whether or not they want to register to vote. It is not the governments duty to automatically register all “legal citizens” as voters. It is the citizens duty to choose whether or not to register to vote, as well as the right of the legally registered voter to choose whether or not to participate in a particular vote. Occasionally I choose not to vote in the Town election, it is my choice, as was registering to vote.
Deja Vu California...working hard to create a ONE PARTY state. The RATS hard at work.
Yes.
But there is a poison mixed in with their scheme, a poison that can take them down.
Two databases:
1) Licensing
2) Voter
The 1st database cannot be used for jury pools because there is no explicit citizenship requirement.
The 2nd requires citizenship. Of course, we know illegals lie or others lie for them when they check the citizen box. But the state can still use it because until it is proven to be a lie, it is accepted as valid.
The poison comes when an illegal is summoned to jury duty and they say they cannot participate because they are not a citizen. Then investigators can arrest them.
This has happened in the past.
Once a case of fraud is proven and a conviction obtained, a state elections office may order the voter rolls to be scrubbed. There is a sure fire way to clean the voter rolls up in this context. Have letters mailed to voters stating that due to recent court findings and convictions the state elections office requires that voters prove citizenship by a certain date using a prescribed means or else the voter will be dropped from the voter roll.
That is simply not so!
They'll have to get up off the couch one day at the start of every month, to open the mailbox to get their check, and bring it back to their couch.
Oh, wait... you say, the govt provides direct deposit too?
Well, I guess then you are 100% correct.
It’s just the twisted logic that boring registration comes automatically with aid - but that ID must not be shown when trying to vote because you’re ciolating their rights and enacting a poll tax!
I believe that this next election is so important to the democrats that organized vote fraud at every level will be greater than ever before. It will be on a massive scale. It will cover everything from ineligible and fake registrations to the manipulation of vote tallying software at the state level. And everything in between.
You're obviously not from the Gay State.Just FYI:
A few years ago,knowing that I'd be out of the country on Election Day,I went to my Town Hall to get an absentee ballot.while there I asked the clerk if she needed any ID from me."Oh,no!" she said,a look of surprise on her face.I was surprised by this reaction and asked her "well,how do you know I'm eligible to vote here? How do you even know that I'm a citizen?" At this she called over her supervisor who,in a very stern and dismissive tone (as if I had asked some kind of treasonous question),told me that was illegal under Massachusetts law to ask anyone registering to vote (or at a polling place) to provide proof of citizenship.
With God as my Judge,it's true!
Someone in Boston Mass, city council, maybe, wants to open voting to all residents not just legal citizen residents, but all legal residents including legal non-citizen residents. My understanding at first she wanted it to be all, including those who entered the USA illegally, but rethought after receiving a downpour of criticism. Currently she wants only for Boston, but we know how such bad ideas evolve, first they’ll be able to vote legally in city elections, then they will want state and federal. When does legal ownership apply? Which makes me wonder “Do I own my citizenship?” It’s mine to keep, isn’t it? Does it sound odd to say I am both an American and US citizen. Is it possible to be one and not the other?
Liar! The goal is to get more mail-in ballots in the junk mail bins at the post offices so they can be retrieved by "democrat" operatives, filled out and mailed in. The average American has to think that this is an invasion of a person's right to privacy by an intrusive, overbearing local government. What are you going to do with those who still refuse to vote? Round them up and shoot them?
Anybody who is too stupid to figure out how to register should not be voting.
Sounds like she just called the people of Worcester too stupid to fill out a simple voter registration form. Hell, Hogg boy and his motley band of Muppets are out there registering hundreds of high school kids to vote and they don't seem to have a problem with the "complexities" of registering to vote.
and you are forgetting the mandatory government supplied robot devices to fill in for any unseemly need necessitating rising off the couch ...
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