A coalition of voting rights organizations has reached a settlement with the state, in which public assistance organizations including MassHealth will provide voter registration forms to their clients. The settlements with Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin and Director of the Office of Medicaid Daniel Tsai, signed on Tuesday, mark the conclusion of a lawsuit that was partially settled with the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance in March.
The Department of Transitional Assistance at the time agreed to pay $675,000 in attorneys’ fees to the voting rights organizations – the New England Area Conference of the NAACP and New England United for Justice. The other state agencies will not have to pay any additional attorneys’ fees, under the terms of the settlement.
“This has been a long process but we are very happy about the procedures and safeguards that Massachusetts is instituting to ensure its low-income citizens have the same opportunity to register to vote as citizens who visit the Registry of Motor Vehicles,” Lisa Danetz, legal director at the voting rights organization Demos and a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Full Article: MassHealth settles lawsuit with voting rights organizations | masslive.com.