Update on ‘Move the Vote’ petition

By Guest

Canton residents (seated) address the Mass. Joint Committee on Election Laws.

By Jen Wexler

Dear Supporters of Canton Residents to Move the Vote:

Yes, we’ve made more good progress since our last update!

Our home rule petition, Senate Bill S2605, An Act Further Regulating Town Elections in the Town of Canton, was referred to the Joint Committee on Election Laws. The hearing on our bill was held by the Joint Committee at the Statehouse on Tuesday October 21.

A giant thank-you to those of you who submitted written testimony! It is still timely to send messages expressing your appreciation to Senator Feeney and Representative Galvin for co-sponsoring the bill, as well as a sentence or two about your support for the bill and why its passage is significant to you as a Canton resident. Their email addresses are paul.feeney@masenate.gov and william.galvin@mahouse.gov.

At the hearing, four of us provided oral testimony (three in person and one remotely): Jen Wexler, Susan Harrington, Lisa Lopez and Jeff Sullivan. You can view our oral testimony here starting at the 22:00 mark.

One favorable indication of the impact of our testimony and efforts was that the committee asked several very valuable follow-up questions. In advance of the hearing, we submitted a briefing to the joint committee and followed up by submitting our oral testimony in writing.

The next milestone in this process is that the committee will vote on the bill by December 2. We expect that there may be some discussion of the bill between the committee chairs and Senator Feeney and Rep. Galvin. Additionally, we will be requesting to see all testimony that has been submitted in writing. Immediately after the hearing, while at the State House, we visited the offices of Senator Feeney and Rep. Galvin.

Click here for a primer on the legislative process for bills in Massachusetts.

Share This Post

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=132666