Election Modernization Coalition’s Recommendations for Early Voting

In 2014, the Massachusetts legislature passed an historic reform of our state’s election laws. As part of the new law, it established early voting starting with the November 2016 election. Early voting is one important way to expand access to our democracy. It allows people whose work or family obligations preclude them from standing in line or even getting to the polls on Election Day, more opportunities to vote.

The early voting period starts 11 business days preceding the election. Within that period, municipalities are required to have at least one voting site open during normal business hours. But beyond these simple specifications, there is a great deal of flexibility in how the law may be implemented. In order to ensure the effectiveness and success of early voting, the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition, including the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, released standards to help municipalities implement early voting.

The standards — available here: Early Voting Principles FINAL — were released at a press conference in Boston’s City Hall Plaza on August 4, 2016.

The coalition’s early voting work was featured in the Boston Globe, and the Lawyers’ Committee’s litigation director, Oren Sellstrom, discussed early voting in a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly podcast.