Issue Position: Election Reform

Issue Position

I SUPPORT RANKED CHOICE VOTING

Our current system of winner-take-all elections shortchanges voters. Often, less popular candidates win because more popular candidates split the plurality of votes between them. Being able to vote for candidates in order of our preference for them avoids the dispiriting circumstance of having to vote for the lesser of two evils.

Ranked Choice Voting (RSV) has worked well everywhere it has been put into practice. The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll conducted two rigorous independent opinion polls exploring voters' experiences in local campaigns and elections in 2013 and 2014. These polls show that voters were more satisfied with the conduct of candidate campaigns, with Ranked Choice Voting, and that an overwhelming majority of voters found their ballot instructions and the principles of how it works easy to understand

Massachusetts is one of the 14 states with the oldest voting machines in the country, and over 90% of our voting machines fail to meet even the 2005 federal certification guidelines. A collateral benefit of making the switch to RCV is that it would require us to update that equipment. The new machines required to support this system would be mostly paid for by the $51.7 million that is available to us from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

I support "An Act Providing A Local Option For Ranked Choice Voting In City Or Town Elections," Senate Bill S.380, and I will work toward making Ranked Choice Voting standard practice in all statewide elections and ultimately for federal elections as well.

I WILL WORK TO REMOVE THE OBSTACLES TO VOTING

For too many people, voting imposes prohibitive hardships and expenses. People who can ill afford to do so have to take time off from work or school and/or make arrangements for family care in order to make time to vote.

Early voting works. Common Cause cites an article from the Newburyport News that says: "The early voting period that preceded the November 2016 general election in Massachusetts was widely deemed a success, having engaged more than one in five registered voters in the state."

This is an easy, common-sense way to engage more people in the process by making voting more accessible. I will make sure that we build on the success of this program and continue to expand its reach.

I applaud the recent passage and signing into law of the Automatic Voter Registration Bill and will work to enact same-day voter registration.

I WILL FIGHT TO END THE INFLUENCE OF MONEY IN POLITICS

Money is not speech, and corporations are not people. We must limit the influence of money in our elections, which translates into a government that does the bidding of the rich. We must restore the powers of governance to the people.

I support the efforts of Senator Eldridge, who has put forth several bills to limit the influence of money. Specifically, I support S.378 (An Act Enhancing Transparency In Campaign Finance) and S.381 (An act relative to fair elections), which provide for public funding of campaigns.

I support this year's Ballot Question #2, which charges the state legislature to draft a constitutional amendment that would state definitively that corporations do not have the same rights as citizens, thus overturning the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. However, I am opposed to convening a constitutional convention for this purpose. A constitutional convention would give a dangerous opening to powerful interests to propose and possibly pass amendments that would constrict rather than enhance our liberty.

I WILL FIND WAYS TO INCREASE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

A healthy democracy requires the participation of its citizens. Like the rest of the United States, voter turnout for Massachusetts elections is abysmally low. Part of this is due to the obstacles to voting. We have made, and will continue to make, progress on eliminating those obstacles with measures such as automatic voter registration, same day registration, and early voting.

The lack of participation also stems from a sense of disempowerment and alienation from the workings of government and also from the failure of our education systems to foster our tradition of civic engagement.

I will stay engaged with the communities I serve, and I will seek opportunities to get people involved in the governance of their communities. I will promote the teaching of civics in our schools and support groups and organizations that seek to get people involved.

Source