Massachusetts: Voter rights activists pin hopes on Senate | Bay State Banner

Voter rights activists are hoping the Massachusetts Senate will pass electoral reforms next year after the House approved online registration and early voting measures. The legislation approved by the House now goes to the Senate when it comes back in session in January. The bill calls for voters to be able to vote up to 11 days ahead of the traditional Tuesday Election Day in presidential elections and allows for online registration in addition to the traditional paper methods of registration. Early voting is viewed as a major win by voter advocates, who say it can increase voter participation — the holy grail of voting reform.

Massachusetts: Lantigua concedes in Lawrence mayoral race | Boston Globe

Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua conceded defeat today on a Spanish-language radio talk-show, two days after the controversial mayor lost a recount to rival Daniel Rivera by a narrow margin of 81 votes. “I congratulate Daniel Rivera,” Lantigua said, reading a statement on the El Tapon show on La Mega 1400 AM radio. “He has the path ready to do a good job.” Lantigua urged his supporters in the deeply divided city to support Rivera and said he called the mayor-elect to concede before appearing on the radio show at 6 p.m. But Lantigua also said he warned Rivera that he would remain vigilant to ensure that inroads he made for Latinos in the city would continue. “I am not going to disappear. I am not going anywhere,” Lantigua said in Spanish, to applause and cheers at the radio show. “I will continue working for the welfare of our people, of our city, the great city of Lawrence.”

Massachusetts: Lawrence mayor refuses to concede after recount | Boston Herald

A defiant Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua refused to admit defeat yesterday after a recount confirmed City Council Vice President Daniel Rivera is the city’s new chief executive, but one expert said it will be an uphill battle if Lantigua chooses to challenge the results in court. “I am not conceding,” Lantigua said after the results were announced. Rivera won by 81 votes — a wider margin than on Election Day — after the city’s Board of Registrars certified the results in which he tallied 7,628 votes to Lantigua’s 7,547. Rivera’s supporters erupted in loud cheers at the South Lawrence East Middle School after the votes were announced, but Lantigua, whose administration has been dogged by scandals, said he’s considering a legal challenge. “There were … from what I hear … more than 100 of what is called spoiled ballots,” Lantigua said. “It is perhaps a coincidence that most of those that were reviewed, they were all cast for Lantigua.”

Massachusetts: House approves early voting, online registration | WWLP

The House voted 141-10 Wednesday to approve legislation authorizing early voting in presidential elections and online registration in Massachusetts, major changes that supporters claimed will broaden voter engagement. House Election Laws Committee Rep. James Murphy (D-Weymouth) said the panel had heard “loud and clear” the call for reforms to expand access to voting. The bill also calls for municipal clerk training and creates task forces on implementation of election audits and to study early voting following its implementation in the 2016 election. “It is an important moment in the history of election laws and for voting here in the Commonwealth,” said Murphy, who predicted early voting and online registration would lead to shorter lines at the polls on Election Day. Rep. Linda Campbell (D-Methuen) called the bill’s passage a “long time coming” and predicted the changes, if enacted into law, would prove particularly useful to individuals with disabilities, senior citizens and people who travel abroad for business. Election reform advocates say 19 states allow online voter registration and early voting is available in 32 states.

Massachusetts: House Passes Bill To Allow Online Voter Registration | WGBH

The Massachusetts House passed legislation Wednesday making it easier for residents to register to vote and cast ballots. The House bill would let Massachusetts citizens register to vote online and to vote early in presidential election years. Under the proposal, voters would be able to cast ballots up to 10 days before election day. State Rep. Linda Campbell of Methuen says the measure would shorten lines at polling places. “This legislation will be very much appreciated by senior citizens and the disabled population in the commonwealth, who, because of disabilities and age, sometimes face real challenges with parking and standing in line to vote,” Campbell said. “It will be greatly appreciated by the many in the commonwealth who travel all over the world in conjunction with their employment.”

Massachusetts: Early voting bill could reach House floor | Hanover Mariner

The House could take up a series of election law reforms this week before the close-out of formal sessions for the year. An aide to Speaker Robert DeLeo said the House is tentatively planning to take up a bill (H 3647) drafted by the Election Laws Committee, which calls for an “online portal” where citizens can register to vote, and allows early voting from 11 business days to two business days before a presidential primary or presidential election. Activists decrying long lines at polling stations and other hindrances to voting have called for reforms to ease access to ballots. A member of the committee staff said the bill was designed to address long lines, and voters would be able to cast ballots early for all races during a presidential year during the presidential primary or general election. Senate President Therese Murray has backed legislation (S 12) to amend the state constitution, allowing for state laws providing for early voting. Lawmakers meeting in a brief Constitutional Convention in October gave initial approval to the constitutional amendment.

Massachusetts: Galvin mum about voting safeguards in Lawrence | Eagle Tribune

Secretary of State William Galvin won’t say if he is ordering changes at the city’s 24 polling places on Tuesday to prevent a repeat of the “overall chaos” witnessed by an observer he sent to the Sept. 17 preliminary election. Among them, observer Ramon Trinidad reported seeing city poll workers pencil in the names of unregistered people to the voting list and then hand them ballots. Trinidad also said poll workers examined completed ballots and allowed candidates to walk around freely inside polling places. He said poll workers were sometimes hard to find while campaign workers were prolific, polling places were organized in a way that confused voters, machines that assist disabled voters were shut down and documents describing voters’ rights were not posted as required. “I believe that when a poll worker looks at a voter’s ballot for any reason, the voter loses trust in their expectation of the right to a secret ballot,” Trinidad said in his report, describing how poll workers took ballots from voters and examined them if scanners spit them back. “It can be considered a type of voter intimidation.”

Massachusetts: Voter registration drive targets homeless | Boston Globe

Daniel Farquharson registered to vote for the first time ever Wednesday, at the age of 58. Homeless since 2007, the Quincy native said his top issue in the upcoming city election is deeply personal. “Get more affordable housing,” said Farquharson, who was living in a shelter even before he recently lost his job. “When I was working, I didn’t make enough to afford a decent place.” Farquharson said he hasn’t decided whether he will give his vote for mayor to Councilor John R. Connolly or state Representative Martin J. Walsh but said he was satisfied they prevailed in the 12-candidate preliminary election. “The two that they finally settled on would have been my pick,” he said. Conventional wisdom says Boston elections are won and lost in high-turnout neighborhoods such as West Roxbury and South Boston, but advocates for the homeless are working to ensure that voters with no permanent address also make their voices heard. At a Wednesday afternoon voter registration drive at the Pine Street Inn, Lyndia Downie, the shelter’s executive director, said voting has a symbolic as well as practical value for the shelter’s residents. “For many of our folks, they’re feeling very isolated and feeling forgotten about,” Downie said, “and getting ready to vote means they’re thinking about being part of a community again.”

Massachusetts: Lawmakers start push for early voting | Lowell Sun Online

The Legislature on Wednesday advanced a constitutional amendment aimed at facilitating early voting and more widespread use of absentee voting in Massachusetts, but Senate President Therese Murray said the lengthy amendment process is just one option available to reform supporters. “I would like to see it happen. I would like to see it come through as legislation so it could be done sooner. A lot of people are disenfranchised, particularly people who live in my communities who travel to work sometimes north of Boston, leave before the polls open and get home when the polls are closed,” Murray told the News Service after she gaveled her proposal forward and then closed down the convention until next March. Lawmakers meeting in a brief Constitutional Convention Wednesday advanced the constitutional amendment (S 12) that would allow registered voters in Massachusetts to cast their ballots at polling places during the 10 days leading up to a scheduled election. The amendment would also allow any voter to request an absentee ballot, regardless of the circumstance.

Massachusetts: Crowded Boston election may leave poll checkers outside | The Boston Globe

How crowded is the election field in Boston this fall? So crowded that election officials are worried that mobs of competing poll checkers inside polling places will leave no room for voters. The field is so crowded that signs for the 50 candidates running for mayor and City Council may blot out sunlight at some polling places. Dozens of canvassers are expected to line sidewalks outside, forcing voters to run a gantlet of brochures and slogans to get to the ballot box. To fight democratic gridlock, the city wants to make sure traffic keeps moving on election day. The most pressing issue will be poll checkers: campaign workers stationed inside voting places who check off names and play a crucial role in get-out-the-vote operations. Campaigns are allowed to station observers inside voting stations, but some of Boston’s polling places are in cramped spaces in churches and senior centers. There simply may not be room for all the poll checkers, forcing campaigns to share.

Massachusetts: Are Businesspeople Unable to Run for Massachusetts Office? | Boston Magazine

Massachusetts continues to struggle with its reputation as a place where businesses can’t get lift. The latest controversy is over whether Cape Air founder Dan Wolf can run for governor—let alone hold his state Senate seat—is raising questions about whether businesspeople can run for office. As Wolf, a Democrat, vows not to bow to pressure to choose between running his company or run the Commonwealth, we consulted Rutgers University business ethicist Michael A. Santoro about the chilling wind this bombshell ruling is sending through the business and political communities. “They’re absolutely asking too much,” Santoro said. “We don’t want to preclude people who are active in the real working world from serving in government. We don’t want government only made up of people with experience in government.” Wolf first revealed the conflict in an August 7 Facebook post, where he contended that Cape Air’s relationship with Massport is largely limited to the landing fees it negotiates. Santoro agrees they are more like licenses and not fees for services, such as shuttling government officials to-and-fro. It seems harsh to force him to pull the ripcord on his corporate parachute or his gubernatorial run.

Massachusetts: Jack Villamaino, Former GOP Candidate, Gets 4 Months In Jail For Felony Voter Fraud | Huffington Post

In the midst of his 2012 GOP primary campaign for a Massachusetts state House seat, Jack Villamaino changed the party affiliation of nearly 300 people in his town of East Longmeadow. Days later, the same number of absentee ballot requests were dropped off at the town clerk’s office, a list that was almost a “name-for-name match” for those whose registration information Villamaino had altered. Earlier this week, Villamaino pleaded guilty to felony charges of stealing ballots and changing the party affiliation of 280 Democrats during his campaign for state representative. A judge sentenced him to a year in jail, only four months of which he’ll be forced to serve behind bars. The remainder of that sentence will be suspended, and Villamaino will also be required to serve a year of probation. Villamaino’s defense attorney had hoped the judge would throw out the felony conviction, while Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni had sought additional felony charges for forgery and perjury.

Massachusetts: Voters’ rights groups calling for updated election laws | WWLP.com

A coalition of voters’ rights groups say long lines and old equipment slow down state elections. Voter rights groups say three hour wait times and malfunctioning voting machines gave some Massachusetts voters a tough time during last year’s presidential election. They’re calling for an update on election laws to modernize the state’s election process.  State lawmakers have filed legislation that requires voting machines to be randomly checked by comparing machine ballot counts with manual ballot counts. Voter rights groups also want online voter registration to cut down on costs and give voters a convenient option to register for elections.

Massachusetts: State to investigate election irregularities – recounts to be held next week | South Coast Today

The state Elections Division is investigating “irregularities” in the town election April 1 and the way the ballots were handled in the days afterward. “As you are aware, serious problems have been reported in connection with the town election,” wrote Michelle K. Tassinari, director and legal counsel, in a letter to Town Clerk Eileen Lowney April 10. Ms. Tassinari said “certain matters concerning standards, practices and procedures of election officials during the administration of the Town Election may be contrary to election laws.”

Massachusetts: Reformers: Momentum building behind voting reform bills | Georgetown Record

State election reform advocates are optimistic their longtime efforts to enact early voting, online voter registration and other changes at the polls could gain traction this year. MassVOTE and other voting rights groups said long lines at some polls in last year’s presidential election seem to have sparked renewed interest in such reforms. State Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Election Laws, filed a bill this year that bundles several measures that reformers have long supported. Some of these measures passed the House last year, but died in the Senate at the end of the legislative session, advocates said.

Massachusetts: Brandeis event highlights flaws in Massachusetts election process | The Justice

Engineering Change in Elections, sponsored by the Brandeis College Democrats and the Brandeis University chapter of No Labels, was a discussion focusing on the problems with the Massachusetts voting systems and possible solutions for these problems. Tyler Creighton, Assistant Director of Common Cause Massachusetts; Pamela Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts; and Sara Brady, Policy Director of MassVote were the featured speakers at the event. Common Cause Massachusetts and MassVote are both nonprofit organizations that focus on upholding the accountability of government and advocate for citizen participation in the political process.

Massachusetts: Special election activity suspended after bombings | CNN

Candidates in this month’s primaries for the special U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts announced they were suspending campaign activity Monday as authorities continue to investigate apparent bombings at the Boston Marathon. Rep. Ed Markey, the Democratic frontrunner, said he was “disturbed and saddened” by the explosions that left dozens injured and caused multiple deaths. “We all are grateful for the first responders who rushed to the scene to help the victims. The heart of the city is hanging heavy, and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this senseless tragedy,” the longtime congressman, who represents Boston suburbs, said in a statement.

Massachusetts: Former Everett state representative sent to prison for election fraud | The Boston Globe

A former state representative from Everett was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in ­Boston to four months in prison for cheating the absentee ballot process in two elections in which he won. Stephen Smith, 57, a married father of four, will also serve a year of probation and must pay a $20,000 fine. He was ordered to report to a prison, to be designated by the US Bureau of Prisons, by May 21. US Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin said in handing out the sentence that Smith had ­betrayed the trust of his constituents in Everett. “Fair and honest elections are really the foundation of our society,” Sorokin said.

Massachusetts: Secretary of State Galvin challenges Chief Justice Roberts’ claim about voting | Boston.com

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. certainly sounded authoritative when he made a striking, though unflattering, declaration about Massachusetts as the high court heard arguments over the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is ­designed to assure equal access across ­races to polling booths. “Do you know which state has the worst ratio of white voter turnout to African-American voter turnout?” Roberts asked Donald Verrilli Jr., solicitor general for the Department of Justice, during Wednesday’s arguments. “I do not know that,” Verrilli answered. “Massachusetts,” Roberts responded, adding that even Mississippi has a narrower gap. Roberts later asked if Verrilli knew which state has the greatest disparity in registration. Again, Roberts said it was Massachusetts. The problem is, Roberts is woefully wrong on those points, according to Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin, who on Thursday branded Roberts’s assertion a slur and made a declaration of his own. “I’m calling him out,” Galvin said.

Massachusetts: Special election will cost Massachusetts at least $13.5 million, according to state officials | masslive.com

State officials say it is expected to cost Massachusetts at least $13.5 million to hold the special election to fill the U.S. Senate formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry. State Auditor Suzanne Bump has estimated that it will cost cities and towns nearly $8.3 million to run the April 30 primary election and the June 25 final. The special election has been classified by the auditor’s office as an “unfunded local mandate,” meaning the state must reimburse local communities for the costs they incur.

Massachusetts: Storm threatens to bury GOP’s ballot hopes | Boston Herald

Some panicked Republicans are fretting that they may not even get a candidate on the ballot for the special Senate election as the deadline for 10,000 signatures approaches, with the weekend’s blizzard threatening to cut into vital collection time. “The Mass. GOP can’t afford to play Princeton basketball and let the clock run out here. With only 20 days left, candidates need to announce and pull their papers now to ensure they’ll make the ballot,” said Michael Hartigan, a Republican consultant who worked on former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s 2010 campaign. Massachusetts officials require candidates to have 10,000 valid signatures to get on the election ballot by Feb. 28, but most campaign officials agree that campaigns need at least 20,000 to account for ineligible signatures.

Massachusetts: Challenges to Direct Democracy: The Massachusetts Right to Repair Ballot Question | State of Elections

In an exercise of their democratic freedoms under state law, Massachusetts residents successfully petitioned to have three distinct initiatives posed to voters on November 6th. Of those three ballot questions, two received widespread media attention: (1) the legalization of medical marijuana, which ultimately passed by a wide margin, and (2) the legalization of prescribing medication to end life, which, after passionate debate, was defeated by a relatively small percentage of voters. Meanwhile, results for the third ballot initiative regarding the availability of motor vehicle repair information for independent repair shop owners, more commonly referred to as the “right to repair,” were not so much as acknowledged by major news organizations. However, after receiving strong voter support on Election Day, the right to repair initiative has begun to gain some media attention.

Massachusetts: Lawmaker In Voting Scandal Quits Office | WBUR

A state lawmaker who agreed to plead guilty to casting invalid absentee ballots in elections in 2009 and 2010 has submitted his resignation letter. State Rep. Stephen Smith submitted the letter, dated Monday, to the state’s top election official, Secretary William Galvin. “I respectfully decline to accept this office,” Smith’s signed letter states, Galvin said Tuesday. A calendar has been prepared for a special election to fill the vacancy, with a primary in March and the election in April, Galvin said. Members of the state House will discuss the issue Wednesday, he said.

Massachusetts: Secretary of State Galvin defends use of absentee ballots | Connecticut Post

The state’s top election official says he’s asking federal prosecutors for more information about a lawmaker who agreed to plead guilty to casting invalid absentee ballots but he’s reluctant to recommend tightening access to the ballots. State Secretary William Galvin says he wants more details about the case of Rep. Stephen Smith before deciding if any other steps needs to be taken. Galvin said he’s most interested in finding out who might have helped Smith. “I’ve very interested in finding out if there was any kind of electoral misconduct,” Galvin said. “If I believe there is any involvement of any election officials, I’m going to take action.”

Massachusetts: Galvin: State ready for special election | Chelmsford Independent

Assuming U.S. Sen. John Kerry clears his Senate confirmation to become U.S. Secretary of State, the 145-to-160-day countdown to a special election would be triggered by his letter of resignation, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin told reporters Friday morning. President Barack Obama is expected to formally nominate Kerry to the post Friday, according to multiple media reports, and Obama has a 1:30 p.m. personnel announcement planned. Galvin said he was “delighted” for Kerry and said he expects bipartisan agreement Kerry is qualified to succeed Hillary Clinton.

Massachusetts: Spider spins web, crashes voting machine in Rehoboth | Boston.com

When a voting machine in the town of Rehoboth mysteriously stopped working on Election Day, officials found a web of mischief spun not by a human, but by a saboteur with eight legs. During the morning rush Tuesday, one of the town’s machines malfunctioned and failed to recognize ballots because a spider web had blocked a sensor, said Town Clerk Kathleen Conti. “It was something as simple as that,” she said. “We were cursing that spider. He’s still at large and we’re still looking for him.”

Massachusetts: Itsy bitsy spider goes up the voting machine, causes malfunction, delays count in Massachusetts town | The Washington Post

It wasn’t hanging chads or voter fraud that delayed the vote count in one Massachusetts town — it was a spider. Rehoboth Town Clerk Kathleen Conti says one of the town’s aging voting machines malfunctioned Tuesday morning. She called a technician, who said a spider web apparently prevented the machine’s scanner from counting ballots. Conti tells The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro (http://bit.ly/XmzmSj ) all Rehoboth’s voting machines received preventive maintenance a month ago.

Massachusetts: Debate erupts over readiness of Massachusetts oversea ballots | Boston.com

US Senator Scott Brown is threatening to sue Secretary of State William F. Galvin for not sending out absentee ballots to military personnel and other Americans living overseas by a prescribed federal deadline – a charge that Galvin said is baseless. An attorney at the Worcester firm that represents Brown’s campaign said in a letter dated Sept. 24 that the problem stems from “reported delays in the delivery of the ballots’’ by Galvin’s office to local city and town clerks. The federal laws requires the absentee ballot be available 45 days before the election. This year, that deadline was Saturday.

Massachusetts: East Longmeadow girds for primary election amid voter fraud investigation | masslive.com

The town continues to try to fend off political disarray with a looming primary election at hand Thursday supervised by outsiders amid a criminal investigation into voter fraud, and a potential two-thirds void in its governing body of three. Point one: The town of 15,000 with 11,000 registered voters has two of three selectmen after Enrico “Jack” Villamaino, a three-term selectman, resigned after he fell under investigation for voter fraud as he was running in the Republican primary for the state representative seat against Longmeadow Republican Marie Angelides. Point two: Town officials and criminal investigators said the Town Clerk’s office was flooded with absentee ballots mid-election cycle with a quadrupling of historically Democratic voters transitioning to unenrolled without the voters’ knowledge. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office and local and state police converged when the alleged improprieties surfaced. The actual ballots were unaccounted for. Former East Longmeadow selectman Enrico P. Villamaino III is reportedly now married to a co-suspect in a voter fraud investigation, Courtney Llewellyn.

Massachusetts: Voter fraud scandal up-ends East Longmeadow politics | masslive.com

The abrupt resignation of Selectman Enrico “Jack” Villamaino III amid a criminal investigation into possible voter fraud has not only riveted taxpayers and beyond, but has created uncertainty over the future political leadership in this town of 15,000 and left potential candidates for the board in limbo. Villamaino, who is running for state representative in the 2nd Hampden District, tendered his resignation in absentia at a crowded selectman’s meeting on Wednesday, with residents packing a conference room at the senior center hoping for answers about the pending investigation. Selectman James Driscoll, who proffered his own resignation in late July, announced that Villamaino resigned via email effective at 4 p.m.