SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1956        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 469

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Barry R. Finegold

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the feasibility of mobile voting for active-duty service members, voters with disabilities and municipalities.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1956        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 469

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act relative to the feasibility of mobile voting for active-duty service members, voters with disabilities and municipalities.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. (a) For the purposes of this act, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

"disability", means a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended by 42 U.S.C. 12102.

“remote ballot marking device” means a smartphone, tablet or computer that produces a paper ballot at the at the office of the municipal voting official, a receipt for the voter and an auditable database of anonymized votes.

“secretary”, means the secretary of the commonwealth of Massachusetts

SECTION 2. (a) The Secretary shall establish a municipal elections mobile voting pilot program to test the viability, efficacy and security of mobile voting in municipal elections and shall promulgate regulations to implement the program; provided, however, that the regulations establish an application process for municipalities to apply for and receive approval from the secretary’s office to implement and execute the pilot program. To gain approval, Municipalities may provide proof to the secretary's office that they have adequate funds and security protocols to implement and execute the pilot program.

(b) The pilot program shall allow approved municipalities to establish use of remote ballot marking devices as a voting option for active registered voters in approved municipal elections. The secretary shall provide for a pilot program for integration with the state voters registration system, by a biometrically secure authentication, electronic ballot delivery, electronic return of completed ballots, an easy way to tabulate and consolidate the results and provide for post-election audits.

(c) The pilot program shall include: (i) independent security evaluation and post-election

audits; and (ii) automatic preparation of tabulatable ballots that provide for automatically printed ballots, which can be inserted directly into and read by a ballot tabulating machine. Municipalities shall partner with a United States company that has been successfully used in elections in other jurisdictions and demonstrated security and capacity to deliver the requirements of the pilot program.

(e) The secretary shall ensure that an application for municipalities to apply for approval to participate in the municipal elections mobile voting pilot program is available by April 1, 2022.

SECTION 3. A commission is hereby established on the status of Massachusetts’s mobile voting for military service members and individuals with disabilities, for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to such participation and the pilot program established by this act. The commission shall consist of 11 members: the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on election laws or designees, who shall serve as co-chairs of the commission; 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader; the secretary or designee; the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard or designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Inc. or designee; and two representatives of the disabilities community, one of whom is chosen by the Speaker of the House and one of whom is chosen by the Senate President.

The commission shall report no later than 180 days from the date of enactment to the general court the results of its investigation and study and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives.