MA Automatic Voter Registration Bill Signed By Gov. Charlie Baker

Gov. Charlie Baker spent Thursday signing 53 bills into law, including one that will see the Bay State adopt an automatic voter registration system.

Secretary of State William Galvin said Massachusetts would be the 14th state in the United States to institute automatic voter registration, according to the State House News Service. Under the law, eligible voters will be automatically registered when they make transactions with the Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassHealth, unless they opt out.

The system should be in place by Jan. 1, 2020, Galvin said. The presidential primaries are Nov. 3 of that year.

Janet Domenitz, the executive director of MASSPIRG, said supporters had pushed for automatic voter registration for almost six years. "This is a home run for democracy. The push for this law has gone many innings, but now we all win," she said.

Pam Wilmot of Common Cause Massachusetts said the legislation "will make our voter registrations system more efficient, accurate, and secure while at the same time improving voter participation."

One bill still awaits Baker's signature: A $1.15 billion jobs bill that would set a sales tax holiday for Aug. 11 and 12, among other things. The State House News Service said he is still looking over legislation, but planned on signing it by the Saturday deadline.

Here are the 53 bills Baker signed into law Thursday:

• S 2540 An Act authorizing the city of Boston to transfer the care, custody and control of a certain parcel of land from the conservation commission to the department of parks and recreation for playground purposes
• H 4627 An Act authorizing the town of Lenox to convey a certain parcel of land to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Inc.
• H 4253 An Act relative to the classifications of certain employees of the South Essex Sewerage District
• H 4523 An Act further regulating the Buzzards Bay Water District
• S 2395 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to release a portion of a certain parcel of land in the town of Berkley from an agricultural preservation restriction
• S 2241 An Act authorizing the city of Westfield to accept certain ways as public ways
• S 2559 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to modify and relocate an easement in the town of West Boylston
• S 2582 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance and the town of Hingham to grant certain easements upon certain land located in the town of Hingham
• S 2603 An Act authorizing the division of capital asset management and maintenance to grant easements to NSTAR Electric Company in return for NSTAR releasing or modifying easements for the benefit of the Commonwealth
• H 4103 An Act relative to a certain conservation restriction in the town of Webster
• H 4633 An Act authorizing the town of Sharon to change the use of a certain parcel of land acquired for outdoor recreational purposes to a use for general municipal purposes
• H 4636 An Act authorizing the division of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain parcels of land in the town of Grafton
• H 4715 An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Joseph Mele, an employee of the department of mental health
• H 4717 An Act authorizing the town of Nantucket to sell, convey or otherwise dispose of a portion of certain land situated in the town of Nantucket held for cemetery purposes
• H 4760 An Act authorizing the division of capital asset management and maintenance to convey a certain easement to the town of New Salem
• H 4816 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain land to the town of Foxborough for fire department use
• H 4818 An Act authorizing the conveyance of land from the county of Nantucket and authorizing the town of Nantucket to sell, convey or otherwise dispose of a portion of said land situated in the town of Nantucket held for open space purposes
• H 4839 An Act authorizing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to acquire certain parcels of land in the town of Southborough
• S 2319 An Act authorizing the department of fish and game to acquire a conservation restriction on certain parcels of land of the town of Groveland
• S 2576 An Act providing for the abandonment of a certain water line easement in Revere and Malden
• S 2583 An Act authorizing the town of Wilbraham to exchange a certain parcel of land held for conservation purposes
• S 2614 An Act relative to the creation of the Commonwealth technical rescue regions and coordinating council
• H 3712 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to release a restriction on a certain parcel of land in the city of Taunton
• H 4265 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to convey a certain parcel of land in the city of Lynn to the Neighborhood Development Associates, Inc.
• H 4688 An Act authorizing the town of Nantucket to sell, convey or otherwise dispose of certain land situated in the town of Nantucket held for open space, recreational, or conservation purposes to the Nantucket Islands Land Bank, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Inc. or Sconset Trust, Inc. for the same purposes
• H 4803 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to grant a permanent surface and subsurface easement at the Chestnut Hill Reservation in the Brighton section of the city of Boston
• H 4814 An Act authorizing the division of capital asset management and maintenance to dispose of a certain parcel of land in the town of Chelmsford
• H 4837 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain land to the city known as the town of Franklin
• H 4853 An Act relative to the release of certain land in Rowley from operation of an agricultural covenant
• H 4854 An Act authorizing the commissioner of agricultural resources to release an agricultural covenant on a certain portion of land in the town of Lancaster
• H 4855 An Act relative to a certain agricultural restriction held by the Commonwealth on land in the town of Westborough
• H 4856 An Act authorizing the division of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain land in the city of Somerville to the Somerville Housing Authority
• H 4580 An Act authorizing the Somerville Housing Authority to reconstruct the state-funded Clarendon Hill Public Housing Project
• H 1102 An Act authorizing the town of Rehoboth to transfer a conservation easement on a certain parcel of land
• H 4373 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain easements over certain land taken for water supply purposes in the city of Medford
• H 4689 An Act authorizing the town of Nantucket to convey a portion of a certain parcel of land in the town of Nantucket and held for water supply purposes to the town of Nantucket to be used for roadway purposes
• S 2369 An Act relative to an easement plan for the Milton Inline Inspection Project
• H 4757 An Act releasing certain land in Northfield from the operation of an agricultural covenant
• H 4867 An Act authorizing the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to release a restriction in the town of Petersham
• H 4116 An Act relative to Alzheimer's and related dementias in the Commonwealth
• H 4834 An Act automatically registering eligible voters and enhancing safeguards against fraud
• S 2632 An Act relative to veterans' benefits, rights, appreciation, validation and enforcement
• H 4812 An Act to ensure compliance with federal standards regarding the handling of federal tax information
• S 1386 An Act providing firefighters and police officers with the opportunity to enter a smoking cessation program prior to termination
• H 4815 An Act relative to the background record check procedures of the department of early education and care
• H 4857 An Act to advance clean energy
• H 4822 An Act relative to the cremation of certain unclaimed bodies
• H 4828 An Act relative to commuter rail fare rates
• H 4827 An Act relative to grants from the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund
• H 4820 An Act relative to the examination of tax expenditures by the department of revenue
• S 2646 An Act to protect animal welfare and safety in cities and towns
• H 4742 An Act for prevention and access to appropriate care and treatment of addiction
• H 4835 An Act promoting climate change adaptation, environmental and natural resource protection, and investment in recreational assets and opportunity.

Photo by Alison Bauter for Patch

Materials from the State House News Service were used in this report