Submitted by Ofer Inbar on Wed, 06/21/2006 - 9:48am.
In November, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed S.2277, "An Act Strengthening Voting Rights and Voter Confidence in the Commonwealth's Elections." This month, the House passed it, on a vote of 156-0.
The state secretary shall provide a voters’ bill of rights in a form suitable for posting for every polling place for every election. The state secretary shall also include the voters’ bill of rights in appropriate publications of the state secretary and on the electronic website of the state secretary, and shall transmit copies of the voters’ bill of rights to state and municipal offices where citizens register to vote [...]
A voters' bill of rights, huh? Someone running for secretary
already wrote one...
S.2277 says that "the state secretary shall prepare the voters’ bill of rights after consulting the joint committee on election laws of the general court." What will the bill of rights look like? It may not be as bold and comprehensive as John Bonifaz', but we hope they'll get some inspiration from in. Actually, maybe they already have:
The state secretary, a city or town clerk, or a member of a board of registrars of voters or election commission in any city or town shall not serve as the chairman, treasurer, or other principal officer of any political committee, but any such public officer may serve as the chairman or principal officer, other than treasurer, of the political committee organized on his own behalf.
Sound familiar? Here's point #7 from the Bonifaz
Voters' Bill of Rights:
7. Ensure non-partisan election administration
The Secretary of the Commonwealth must be a Secretary for all of us, regardless of party affiliation. The Secretary should not be allowed to serve as a co-chair of campaigns of candidates. To ensure the people's trust in the integrity of our elections, the Secretary must conduct the administration of elections in a non-partisan manner.
S.2277 looks like a good start. Thank you to the legislature for taking some of the steps Secretary Galvin hasn't gotten around to in his 12 years in office.
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