Campaign Reaches Another Milestone to Bring Ranked Choice Voting to MA; Has Now Submitted More Than 136,000 Signatures to the MA Secretary of State’s Office
For Immediate Release:
July 1, 2020
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Boston, Mass. – Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020 is one step closer to securing a place on the November ballot for its historic citizen’s initiative to bring Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to Massachusetts. The grassroots campaign has now submitted more than 136,000 signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin for validation, far surpassing the number of signatures required by the Massachusetts Constitution. The Secretary of State’s office will now review the signatures to validate those entries over the next thirty days.
“We’re celebrating today in Massachusetts, and our entire team is incredibly proud to have submitted a record number of signatures to Secretary Galvin’s office,” said Brian Bass, Organizing Director for the campaign’s 2019 and 2020 signature drives. “We are confident that Ranked Choice Voting will be included on the Massachusetts ballot in November. We worked tirelessly to engage voters across the Commonwealth over the past year to make this happen. It’s clear to us, as more reformers join our ranks, that Massachusetts voters want more choice, more voice, and more freedom when they vote.”
“Ranked Choice Voting is simple, fair and easy. On your ballot, you can vote for just one candidate like you always have, or you can rank your first choice, your second choice and your third choice, just like you rank things in order in your everyday life,” said Shauna Hamilton, Deputy Campaign Manager. “If your favorite candidate can’t win, your vote is instantly counted for your second choice so your vote matters more.”
To protect both voters and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Judicial Court on April 29, 2020 issued an Order allowing for e-signatures during the second set of required ballot initiative signature collection. Since then, volunteers for the ranked choice voting campaign have collected e-signatures through a DocuSign online program, working with Secretary of State Bill Galvin and local town clerks.
“Despite challenges presented by this pandemic, volunteers for Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020 along with groups that have endorsed RCV submitted more than 25,000 new signatures in support of RCV during the second round,” said Michael Meehan, a senior advisor to the campaign. “It signals to us that voters are ready for a change that puts more power into the hands of the people and that helps to address the division and dysfunction so present in American politics today.”
Meehan added, “We are grateful to the Court and the Attorney General and for Secretary Galvin’s cooperation and flexibility to allow e-signature collection during this unprecedented time. Support for RCV is growing in the Commonwealth, and we are so pleased to see broad based approval from across the political spectrum for this initiative.”
“This was the first electronic signature drive to get a citizen’s initiative on the ballot in American history,” said Cara Brown McCormick, the campaign’s leader. “Together we gathered signatures at a rate of one every two minutes for 40 days in a row, and were fortunate to be able to do the whole drive while keeping everyone safe.”
Contact: Charlie@sqcomms.com, 617-894-6905
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About Voter Choice for Massachusetts 2020:
Made up of tens of thousands of citizens across the state, Voter Choice for Massachusetts is a non-partisan campaign of Democrats, Republicans and Independents working together to place a question on the 2020 ballot to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Massachusetts elections starting in 2022.