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Senator proposes wide elections overhaul to centralize reporting, modernize systems and expand access
Summary
Senator Cindy Rausch urged the Joint Committee on Election Laws to support S.534, the Elections Upgrades Act, and S.528 to expand the Ballot Law Commission’s jurisdiction; municipal clerks and voting‑rights groups testified in favor, highlighting administrative burdens and the need for modernization.
Senator Rausch told the Joint Committee on Election Laws that S.528 and S.534 would address structural problems in Massachusetts elections, including unilateral placement of presidential primary candidates on ballots and outdated municipal election infrastructure.
“Those candidates can be placed unilaterally, individually by the chair of either political party or the secretary of state, and the ballot law commission…has no jurisdiction to hear challenges on those specific placements. That is what S.528 would fix,” Senator Rausch said.
On S.534, which she described as the Elections Upgrades Act, Rausch said the bill would centralize digital reporting of…
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