Amendment #1466 to H5500

Election Administration

Mr. Donato of Medford moves to amend the bill by adding at the end thereof the following section:

"Section XX. Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 official edition, is amended by inserting after section 62 the following section:

62A. Extension of Polling Hours

Section 62A. The state secretary shall have the authority to extend polling hours in emergency situations, including, but not limited to, documented disruptions affecting access to a polling place on election day or delays in transmitting the delivery of vote by mail ballots. If the state secretary determines a disruption at a polling place or delay in transmitting ballots to local election officials exist, the secretary may order a polling place extend their hours to accommodate voters who may be otherwise disfranchised.  Any extension of the hours of voting shall be determined based on the severity of the disruption necessitating the extension, but not to exceed 4 hours. Any actions taken by the state secretary under this section shall be reviewable in accordance with the provisions of section 59 of chapter 56 of the general laws."