Looking up Longfellow Street: Secretary Galvin, hear my plea

I urgently plead with you to support and implement universal vote-by-mail in the Commonwealth for the September primary and November final elections. By this I mean mailing ballots to all registered voters in the state. The case for this action has been made to you repeatedly by greater powers than I, and some of their, and my, arguments follow:

• Given that the danger to voters of COVID 19 will likely continue until at least the fall of this year, in-person voting poses a proven risk to the lives of anyone who votes at a polling location;

• Dorchester is one of the “hot spots” in the state for cases of COVID-19;

• This danger will suppress voting to historically low turnout levels in Dorchester just when we are working to increase voter participation through groups like DotTheVote;

• Voting by mail removes the terrible choice between risking our lives or voting;

• Voting by mail is a proven system and has been used successfully in many other US states, beginning 20 years ago;

• Voting by mail will increase turnout in Ward 15 where I live;

• The virus is a danger to workers who staff the polling sites, from each other and from in-person voters;

• The primary and general elections, important at any time, are of more importance in 2020 than any elections in living memory;

• We do not need another impediment to our voting rights in Dorchester.

Your arguments (as reported in the April 22 Boston Globe) against universal vote by mail are easily overcome:

• Town and city clerks need to be consulted about tabulating mail in votes;

• Mail-in absentee ballots are already available (but only to those who are out of state on election day, are medically disabled, or have religious objections);

• Keeping in-person voting gives the voters maximum options;

• We need to extend the time for early voting;

• Independent voters will need to request a party ballot for the primaries;

• In-person voting would allow voters to make last minute choices.

All these issues have been addressed by the states that already have universal voting-by-mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. “Asked and answered,” as they say on televised lawyer shows.

As the call for universal vote-by-mail grows daily, you risk demeaning your role as a leader in state government and its chief elections officer by appearing to be tone-deaf and insensitive to the health and safety of the citizens of Massachusetts.

As someone who has supported you for many years (and not just because you were a few years behind me at St. Mary’s High in Waltham), I know that you are a dedicated, experienced, and knowledgeable public servant. I implore you to take immediate action and make universal voting-by-mail the central feature of your legislative package to the Great and General Court.

Edward M. Cook is president of DotTheVote, a non-partisan, non-profit organization whose purpose is to increase voter registration and turnout in Dorchester.


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