Engineering Change in Elections, sponsored by the Brandeis College Democrats and the Brandeis University chapter of No Labels, was a discussion focusing on the problems with the Massachusetts voting systems and possible solutions for these problems. Tyler Creighton, Assistant Director of Common Cause Massachusetts; Pamela Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts; and Sara Brady, Policy Director of MassVote were the featured speakers at the event.


Common Cause Massachusetts and MassVote are both nonprofit organizations that focus on upholding the accountability of government and advocate for citizen participation in the political process.

Brady began the discussion by mentioning the organizations' election protection work during the 2012 presidential election and naming some of the key problems with the current Massachusetts voting process. During the election, MassVote sent individuals to polling locations to observe and record various issues voters were facing. Additionally, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights had a hotline that voters could call if they were experiencing problems on Election Day. According to Wilmot, it was estimated that the hotline received around 1500 calls during this past presidential election.

On Election Day, it was reported that some towns, such as Springfield and Lawrence, ran out of ballots. Voters had to wait for more to be delivered. It was also common for voters to go to the wrong polling locations; those individuals proceeded to have trouble finding out their correct polling locations. According to Wilmot, voters are not easily able to look up information regarding their registration status or polling stations, as the Voter Activation Network, or VAN, is not easy to use and is not available to everyone.

Accessibility issues with language assistance at polling locations were also common. Additionally, some people were unknowingly placed on an inactive voter list for not returning their city census, and then had to present identification with their names, addresses and registrations, but were unprepared to do so. Other problems included voter identification issues, when poll workers told voters they had to present identification, although this is not the law, and poll workers telling voters to vote "no" on certain questions.

Long lines at polling locations, with wait times sometimes up to two or three house, were also reported to be a problem, especially in urban areas. "Having to wait in line for three hours is really not just an inconvenience, it's really denying people their right to vote," Wilmot said, as most people are not able to wait in line this long for various reasons.

Wilmot said that Massachusetts is behind on passing many voter reform laws. Massachusetts does not allow early voting, and it also does not have "no excuse absentee voting," where voters can acquire an absentee ballot without having to provide an excuse. Instead, Massachusetts requires voters to provide one of three excuses to receive an absentee ballot. Voters must be either out of their city or town, have a religious reason or a physical disability. It would require a change to the Massachusetts constitution to get no excuse absentee balloting, which Wilmot said would take at least five years.

She added that it is important for Massachusetts to allow Election Day registration, which would solve a lot of registration problems, as voters sometimes fail to register on time, and would boost voting participation by about five percent.

Although Election Day registration is a long-term goal, online voter registration is a more immediate goal, according to Wilmot. Wilmot said it is also important to ensure the security of the elections, but not through voter identification policies, especially since voter fraud is more common with absentee ballots than at polling locations. Wilmot suggested that an audit be required of voting results, as voting machines are simply machines, and are not infallible.

"I really had no clue that Massachusetts was so behind the times with this kind of thing, and it's nice to see that there are solutions that are being worked on, so that's kind of comforting but there's still a long ways to go," said Legislative Affairs Coordinator of the Brandeis College Democrats Alex Faye '15.

The two organizations are using the hashtag "#UpdateTheVoteMA" to talk about their campaigns over Twitter. Creighton said that the coalition has testified at two hearings so far, one on early voting, and another on no excuse absentee balloting. "Unless there's a squeaky wheel, it doesn't get any grease. Nothing happens unless there is a constituency for change," said Wilmot. Wilmot then said town clerks, election administrations and the Massachusetts secretary of state are some of the constituencies against change, because they do not want younger people voting for fear it will change their jobs. She went on to say that it is critical for individual to speak to their legislators to help push for change.