BOSTON (AP) — The state Senate is poised to debate a bill that would allow early voting and online voter registration in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts House approved a similar measure bill last year which would let voters cast ballots in their cities or towns up to two weeks before a presidential election.
The Senate bill would expand that to allow early voting in all biennial state elections and primaries.
Both bills would allow for early voting as soon as the 2016 elections.
More than 30 other states allow some form of early voting and more than a dozen offer online voter registration.
Gov. Deval Patrick has said he “loves the idea” of allowing early voting in Massachusetts.
Advocacy groups like the Massachusetts ACLU, Common Cause Massachusetts and the League of Women Voters Massachusetts are urging the Senate to approve the bill, which also allows for the preregistration of 16 and 17-year-olds and for the training of election officials.
The groups are urging senators to support amendments to the bill that would allow for Election Day voter registration and for the postelection audits of voting machines.
They say that no reform would be as effective in increasing voter participation as allowing Election Day registration, arguing that on average, states with Election Day registration have turnout rates that are 10 to 12 percent higher than the national average.
Postelection audits would help ensure the accuracy of vote counts and that voting machines are working properly, according to the groups, which are also pressing senators to reject an amendment which would require photo IDs for voting.
Supporters of photo IDs say they help guard against voter fraud and ensure confidence in the outcome of elections.
Voting advocacy groups say requiring the IDs causes greater delays, are costly, aren’t needed to prevent fraud, and can suppress the vote among the poor, minorities, the elderly and others who might have less access to photo IDs.
The House rebuffed a Republican-backed effort to require voters to show identification before early voting when it debated its version of the bill.
The House bill also didn’t include the preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds. Supporters of the change say it will help encourage young people to prepare to vote after they turn 18.
There is some debate at the Statehouse about whether the best way to allow early voting is by a new law or through a constitutional amendment.
During a joint constitutional convention last October, House and Senate members gave initial approval to a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would also allow voters to cast ballots up to 10 days before an election.
