• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

STATE WIRE: MASS VOTERS CAN REQUEST MAIL-IN BALLOTS ONLINE

Written by LAURA ROSBROW-TELEM Posted September 23, 2020 Filed Under: News, News to Us, NEWS+OPINIONS

mail in ballot Massachusetts

“It’s pretty astonishing the number of people that voted.”


For the first time, registered voters in Massachusetts can ask for mail-in ballots online, and without any physical paperwork.

Secretary of State William Galvin launched the new mail-in ballot online application system on Wednesday.

The creation of the online portal was part of legislation passed this summer to increase voting access in response to COVID-19.

Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, thinks the large numbers of people voting by mail in the state primary this month helped drive record turnout.

“It’s pretty astonishing the number of people that voted,” Wilmot said. “It was literally four-and-a-half times the turnout of 2016.”

More than 1.7 million people voted in the September Massachusetts primary election, breaking a 30-year record for a state primary.

Wilmot expects voter turnout in November may also be much higher than previous presidential elections.

Massachusetts registered voters who want to request a mail-in ballot can visit mailmyballotma.com.

Beth Huang, director of the Massachusetts Voter Table, said the online portal is critical for reaching marginalized voters.

“Suburban voters were more likely to vote by mail in the Sept. 1 primary election,” Huang said. “We think that this online portal is a very necessary development to ensure that all voters, especially voters of color, naturalized citizens, young people and low-income voters can access safe elections as well.”

Huang is also glad people can use the online portal rather than the Postal Service to request a ballot, particularly with the historic delays in mail.

She also urges state lawmakers to extend the eviction and foreclosure moratorium past Oct. 17 so that, among other reasons, everyone can vote by mail.


Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

LAURA ROSBROW-TELEM
+ posts

Laura is a national producer for Public News Service. Before that, she was the news director at WRFI in Ithaca, NY, and prior to that worked as a print journalist in Israel. She has covered basically everything: technology, local government, health, social issues, peace and justice, cultural topics, etc. Her pieces have been published in the Atlantic, Business Insider, NPR News, NPR member station WSKG, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Next Web, the Jerusalem Post, Mic (formerly known as PolicyMic), the Times of Israel, Geektime, AlterNet, the Oakland Tribune, Walla! News, and the Jewish Exponent.

    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: News, News to Us, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Elections, news, voting

WHAT’S NEW

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

Boston University student anti-apartheid protestors in 1986. Photo of 2010 scan of a page from the April 30, 1986 edition of the Daily Free Press by Jason Pramas. Original Daily Free Press photo by Paul Callard.

BU’s John Silber Did Not Support Free Speech on His Campus

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
  • The Most Expensive Massachusetts City For Car Insurance (No, It’s Not Boston)
  • If You Find A Mini Felted Animal Around Boston, This Is Where It Came From
  • Photo Dispatch: “Ukraine Day” Rally In Boston’s Copley Square
  • THROWBACK SPECIAL FOR MARCH MADNESS IN MASS: THE KING OF BOSTON BASKETBALL

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com