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For Immediate Release
August 4, 2008
Contact: Tim Rusch, Demos, (917) 399-0236, trusch@demos.org
ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION BILL STALLS IN MASSACHUSETTS; "HOUSE NOT TAKING UP CRITICAL BILL A DISSERVICE TO VOTERS," SAYS ELECTION REFORM CENTER
Boston, MA--On July 31, the Massachusetts House of Representatives concluded the 2008 legislative session without taking up a critical election reform bill that would have allowed voters to register and vote on Election Day as early as November 4, 2008 if passed and signed into law. The "Election Day Registration" bill was previously passed 33-5 with bipartisan support in the Senate.
In response, Miles Rapoport, president of Demos, a national public policy center, which has been engaged in a state-by-state campaign to pass EDR into law for the last seven years, issued the following statement:
"This is more than a missed opportunity by the Massachusetts House of Representatives--the decision to not take up the Election Day Registration bill at the end of the legislative session will be at the cost of tens of thousands of voters.
"Massachusetts would have become the 11th state to allow residents to register and vote on the same day, and its citizens deserve better.
"The evidence that EDR works is clear. In the 2004 Presidential Election, in the then- six states with Election Day Registration--Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming--experienced an average of 73.8 percent turnout of all eligible voters, compared with 60.2 percent of eligible voters in states without EDR. That's a sizeable 13.6 percent difference. And four of those six states led the nation in voter turnout. A new Demos report shows that similar increases are possible in Massachusetts under EDR.
"It is clear by now that too many eligible voters have no political voice because of arbitrary voter registration cut-off dates and arcane election procedures. All states should have voters' concerns at the center of any debate on election reform, and we expect Election Day Registration, with the continuing support of the Massachusetts State Senate and Governor Deval Patrick, will be a top priority in the next session. It is time to reduce barriers to electoral participation if we are going to have a Democracy that works for all."
Demos is a national and nonpartisan public policy organization. For more information about Election Day Registration and election reform efforts, visit archive.demos.org
Members of the Press:
Miles Rapoport, president of Demos and former Secretary of the State of Connecticut, and other Demos staff members are available for interviews and background briefings. For more information, please contact Timothy Rusch at (917) 399-0236 or trusch@demos.org.
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