Massachusetts
Ballot Security
What Politicians Say
The state has recently made voting much easier.
Previously, the state did not have any early in-person voting and only allowed mail-in voting for a short list of reasons, such as a disability.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the state temporarily added early voting and allowed anyone to vote by mail, and more than 2.3 million voters took advantage of the change.
The legislature extended both temporary programs through December 2021,and Republican Governor Charlie Baker later signed legislation that made both forms of voting permanent.
Ease of Voting
The elections overhaul creates one week of early in-person voting for primaries and two weeks for statewide general elections. It also shortens the deadline to register to vote from 20 days before the election to 10 days.
The bill also allows local elections administrators to use ballot drop boxes or opt out of mail-in voting for local races and requires that officials help people vote from jail if they are eligible.
Ballot Security
Massachusetts has not made any changes to state law that would affect ballot security.
How Politicians Responded to the 2020 Election
Republican Governor Charlie Baker and the state’s top Democrats all say that Biden’s election was fairly won.