SB backs petition to ‘Move the Vote’

The ‘Move the Vote” campaign, which garnered widespread support at the April town election and in a follow-up vote at this year’s Annual Town Meeting, received another major boost on Tuesday when the Canton Select Board voted unanimously to send a draft home rule petition to Town Counsel Paul DeRensis for review before submitted it to the Massachusetts legislature for consideration.

If ultimately approved at the state level, the petition would enable Canton to hold its annual municipal elections on the “first Tuesday following the first Monday” in November, coinciding with state and federal elections in even-numbered years. Rather than conduct dual elections in those years, the petition instead proposes that all local, state, federal and elections be combined on a single ballot.

The impetus behind the proposal is to increase voter turnout by holding elections during a season when more people typically turn out to the polls, thereby ensuring that choices for local office reflect a “broader and more representative segment of the community,” according to proponents of the measure.

While there are still many hurdles to clear — in part due to a longstanding state statute requiring towns to hold elections between February and June — all of the Select Board members in attendance Tuesday night agreed to advance the petition to the next stage. Among them was Chair JR McCourt, who told presenters Jennifer Wexler and Tom Birmingham that they had earned his support because they did their homework. “You got the signatures and answered all the questions,” McCourt said.

Fellow board members Trish Boyden and Susan Harrington also offered their support in what turned out to be a 3-0 decision, with member Mike Loughran away on vacation and Chris Albert unable to attend due to a work commitment. Former Select Board member Lisa Lopez, who worked closely with Wexler to spearhead the ‘Move the Vote’ campaign, also could not attend the meeting; instead, Birmingham stepped in to make the pitch with Wexler, who introduced the full text of the draft petition and outlined a proposed transition plan should it makes its way successfully through the legislature.

The language of the home rule petition, authored by Wexler with help from state Senator Paul Feeney’s office, will now be sent to town counsel before going back to the board for final approval. From there, assuming there is majority support, it would then be forwarded on to Feeney to be filed with the legislature. Once formally introduced, the petition would then go through the standard legislative process, including assignment to a committee for public hearings, potential modifications, votes in both houses of the legislature, and ultimately, if passed, to the governor’s desk for her signature.

The board also liked Wexler’s idea to form an advisory committee in order to start planning for the implementation of the petition. The panel would include a Select Board member, a petitioner representative, town counsel, Town Clerk Tracy Kenney, a local poll worker, a member of the Bylaw Modernization Committee, and a member of the Finance Committee.

In other major news from Tuesday’s meeting, the board voted to accept Town Administrator Charles Doody’s recommendation to hire Public Safety Consultants, LLC …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jul 24 2025. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.