THIS WEEKEND, thousands of Democrats from across the Commonwealth will be descending upon Worcester (or joining virtually) for the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s annual convention. As a nominating convention, it will focus on determining which candidates qualify for the September primary. But rather than talk about the five contested races at the convention (there’s plenty […]
Jonathan Cohn
Posted inOpinion
House should pass same-day voter registration
LAST WEEK, Congress and the Biden Administration failed to advance federal voting rights legislation, prompting pundits and politicians to re-iterate the necessity of advancing legislation to strengthen voting rights and access in the states. Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives is seeking to do just that, and bringing the VOTES Act to the House Floor. […]
Posted inOpinion
Same-day voter registration can help invigorate democracy
OVER THE PAST couple of weeks, many pundits and politicians have lamented the low turnout in our local elections. Indeed, if turnout in our local elections is rarely exceeding 30 percent, then we all need to do some serious reflection about how to change that. Today, National Voter Registration Day—the fourth Tuesday in September—is a […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to bring transparency to the Legislature
IN 2016, when the Massachusetts Legislature updated the state’s public records laws, they chose to punt on the issue of how such laws should apply to themselves. Indeed, Massachusetts remains the only state where the courts, Legislature, and governor’s office all claim to be fully exempt from public records laws. In traditional Beacon Hill fashion, […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t expect change for the better under Mariano
ALL SIGNS POINT to House Majority Leader Ron Mariano being elected the next speaker of the Massachusetts House. What does a Mariano speakership mean for a progressive policy agenda in Massachusetts? As Reps. Denise Provost and Jonathan Hecht remind us, he shares the same top-down leadership style as Speaker Bob DeLeo, with an even more […]
Posted inPolitics
Mail-in voting was huge success; let’s keep it
ON SEPTEMBER 1, Massachusetts voters broke a record. Whether by mail, by dropbox, or in person, 1.7 million voters cast a ballot for our state primaries, exceeding the previous record from 1990. To put this into perspective, 1.7 million is approximately the same as the number of votes cast in the 2014 and 2018 state primaries—combined. And it’s more than the 2010, […]
Posted inPolitics
We must act now to protect the primary election
THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE primary on September 1 is now less than 100 days away. If we want to avoid the horror stories we’ve seen from states like Wisconsin and Florida, then the Legislature needs to take action — and fast — to ensure we can have a high-participation election while protecting public health. So what does […]
Posted inEconomy
A stronger state safety net is part of the cure
LIFE UNDER QUARANTINE can easily cause many of us to lose track of time. But one date we should remember is this: Today marks one month since Gov. Charlie Baker issued a declaration of emergency. Have our state policymakers been responding with the needed urgency? Not really. The Legislature, now rightfully in remote function, has waived […]
Posted inOpinion
A New Year’s resolution for the Mass. House
THERE WAS SOMETHING different about the start of this legislative session in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It wasn’t the composition: Yes, Democrats did manage to flip two seats, but a slightly more overwhelming super-majority isn’t much of a sea change. It was that Democrats were actually willing to stand up and demand a recorded […]
Posted inOpinion
Election Day voter registration is good for democracy
TODAY — THE FOURTH Tuesday of September—is National Voter Registration Day. It’s also the day that Boston voters will go to the polls for hotly contested preliminary elections for City Council. If the past is any guide, turnout will be low (we’ll be lucky if it passes 10 percent), a product of both apathy and […]