Stanley & Lawn Empower Municipalities to Postpone Elections

March 23, 2020 – BOSTON – Rep. Stanley and Rep. Lawn, along with their colleagues in House and Senate, passed legislation to help protect public health by providing cities and towns the authority to postpone and reschedule certain municipal elections and related activities. The bill now goes to the Governor.

The House also issued orders to reschedule two special state elections until June 2, 2020. The Senate issued an order to reschedule two state special elections until May 19, 2020.

The legislation includes guidelines for public notification of rescheduled election dates, voter registration deadlines, absentee ballots processing, and the display of sample ballots. The legislation:

• Allows municipal governments to postpone caucus or certain elections scheduled before May 30, 2020 and reschedule the caucus or elections to a date prior to June 30, 2020.
• Allows any eligible voter to vote early by mail for elections occurring before June 30, 2020.

“This emergency law gives cities and towns across the state the flexibility they need to postpone municipal elections while maintaining options that maximize voter protections and participation,” said Rep. Stanley. “I applaud my colleagues for passing this bill, which will allow residents to vote safely by delaying elections and expanding vote-by-mail and early voting."

“The legislation the House passed today minimizes the disruption of COVID-19 on democracy in the Commonwealth,” said Rep. Lawn, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Elections. “It empowers municipalities to postpone and reschedule over 150 upcoming elections. It also protects voters and increases participation by expanding absentee and early voting options. The voices of Massachusetts voters will be heard despite the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19.”

###