Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin and voting rights advocates want to allow Massachusetts residents to vote by mail for any reason. But is that constitutional? The Massachusetts Constitution explicitly says the Legislature can authorize absentee voting for just three reasons: if someone is out of town, physically disabled, or cannot vote on Election Day […]
Elections
Posted inPolitics
Constitutional challenge to vote-by-mail likely
SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH Bill Galvin and voting rights advocates want to allow Massachusetts residents to vote by mail for any reason. But is that constitutional? The Massachusetts Constitution explicitly says the Legislature can authorize absentee voting for just three reasons: if someone is out of town, physically disabled, or cannot vote on Election Day […]
Posted inPolitics
Six legislative districts shift majority minority
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW ANALYSIS shows that the populations of at least five state House of Representatives districts and one Senate district have moved from mostly white to majority-minority, a demographic shift that could have implications when lawmakers draw new district boundaries later this year. Lawyers for Civil Rights, which commissioned the analysis […]
Posted inPolitics
Galvin backs permanent mail-in voting
CITING THE SUCCESS of mail-in voting during the pandemic, Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin on Tuesday released a bill that would make voting by mail a permanent feature of Massachusetts elections. Galvin said vote-by-mail led to record turnout in the state primary and the presidential election, with prompt, reliable results. “Voters were very enthusiastic […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey sitting on large campaign war chest
ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey is sitting on a mountain of campaign cash, raising the question of what she’s going to do with it. Healey’s campaign finance reports indicate she had $2.96 million in cash on hand at the end of December. That’s more than the $2.5 million Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito […]
Posted inThe Download
New year will usher in 2018’s ‘grand bargain’
It’s been a tough year for low-wage workers, who were hit hard by the pandemic – losing jobs and income and facing housing and food insecurity. But in Massachusetts, changes in state law that go into effect January 1 could bring at least slight relief. The minimum wage is set to rise next year, and […]
Posted inOpinion
3 steps Mass. should take to boost voting rights
SINCE THE SHOT heard around the world at the battle of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts has been at the forefront of modern democracy. The Massachusetts Constitution – which was drafted by John Adams – formed the model for the United States Constitution and remains the oldest continuously-operating constitution in the world. Despite this history of […]
Posted inOpinion
‘Alternative facts’ didn’t scuttle ranked-choice voting
THERE IS NOTHING worse than a sore loser. That is our gut reaction after reading Evan Falchuk’s recent item in CommonWealth entitled “Ranked-choice opponents peddled ‘alternative facts’”. With a treasure trove of out-of-state cash, Falchuk blames the loss of Question 2 on the “falsehoods” spread by the No on 2 campaign, a group armed with […]
Posted inPolitics
Do Trump support and COVID go together?
DOES HOW a city or town votes for president help predict whether that municipality will be at high-risk for COVID-19? That’s what one of our readers suggested last week after the release of the state’s report breaking communities down into four COVID categories – red for high-risk, yellow for moderate risk, and green and gray […]
Posted inThe Download
Do Trump support and COVID go together?
DOES HOW a city or town votes for president help predict whether that municipality will be at high-risk for COVID-19? That’s what one of our readers suggested last week after the release of the state’s report breaking communities down into four COVID categories – red for high-risk, yellow for moderate risk, and green and gray […]