Massachusetts voter registration

[redbird]

I just filled out the annual town census, to send back to the town of Belmont in order to stay on the voter rolls. And it occurred to me, again, that I shouldn't have to do this. I voted in New York City for a quarter of a century and was never asked to say "hey, I still live here" when I walked into the polling place.

I have no idea of this was intended as voter suppression, but it's likely to have that effect. So I wrote to my state legislators, asking them to change it.

What I wrote is,"I just filled out my annual town of Belmont census, to maintain my voter registration. There is no good reason for this to be required: it is likely to have the effect of disenfranchising busy people. [specifics of my background and experience...]

As part of protecting everyone's right to vote, please work to remove this requirement."

Thanks,

redbird

Comments

[kelkyag]

FWIW, in Somerville you don't get removed from the voting rolls if you fail to reply to the city census (for one or two years, I think). You get moved to the "inactive" pages, and if you arrive in person to vote, you show the precinct warden ID, and then you can vote (not provisional) (and you're moved back to "active" for the next election, I believe). I'm not sure how this interacts with mail-in voting, but I imagine you'd have to resolve the "inactive" status to get a mail-in ballot.

City censuses also provide useful information to cities on changes in population, and don't have a fee or require doing something in person during business hours the way many IDs do.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter51/Section4

New York probably has a different mechanism for noticing that people have moved.

[minoanmiss]

Good point. *makes a note to write a similar letter*

[otter]

Thank you for writing and asking for change.