Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws Hearing Today

Hearing today Wednesday July 15th, 2009 1:00pm on restricting voter registration in an attempt to guarantee security at the polls. There are several bills regarding voter registration security which will require

a birth certificate, passport or United States or naturalization papers.

The following is a list of bills that will be heard today. If you cannot attend this or other hearings, you can still allow your voice to be heard by either; submitting a fax of written testimony,(FAX for house and senate are listed below) or email your testimony to:

Bob Dwyer -bobwdwyer@gmail.com

James Boggie - jboggiebla@gmail.com

And/or Dan MacGonigle - phgivemeliberty1775@yahoo.com

We will submit and recite your written testimony into record.

All House bills relative to this hearing are listed below. I have cut and pasted several of these bills (text) at the bottom (Including 2 testimonials that are being faxed to Committee)

You can enter any House bill # here for reference> http://www.mass.gov/legis/hbillsrch.htm

General Court

of the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 02133-1053

DAILY LIST OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE HEARINGS

July 15, 2009

COMMITTEE:                           Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets   

 HEARING LOCATION:       B-1

TIME:                                       11:00 a.m.

LIST OF BILLS: 

The Committee will hear testimony from Assistant Secretary and

 CIO Ann Margulies from the Information Technology Division and Chairman George Comeau of the Board of Library Commissioners.

COMMITTEE:                           Joint Committee on Election Laws   

HEARING LOCATION:       A-1

TIME:                                       1:00 p.m.

LIST OF BILLS: 

JOINT COMMITTEE ON ELECTION LAWS

House Staff:
Room 443
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Staff Telephone: (617) 722-2460 FAX: (617) 722-2353

Senate Staff:
Room 109E
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Staff Telephone: (617) 722-1200 FAX: (617) 722-1116

It shall be the duty of the committee on Election Laws to consider all matters concerning elections, election laws and such other matters as may be referred.

Members appointed to the committee:

Kennedy of Second Plymouth and Bristol - Chair
Buoniconti of Hampden-Vice-Chair
Hart of First Suffolk
Menard of First Bristol and Plymouth
Petruccelli of First Suffolk and Middlesex
Brown of Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex

Moran of Boston- Chair
Golden of Lowell,-Vice-Chair
Kujawski of Webster
Falzone of Saugus
Allen of Boston
Smith of Everett
Ashe of Longmeadow
Bowles of Attleboro
_______ of  ______
Frost of Auburn
Jones of North Reading

H.579 AN ACT RELATIVE TO VERIFICATION OF CITIZENSHIP WHEN REGISTERING TO VOTE.

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

of the same, as follows:

SECTION1. Chapter 56 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section 4 the following section:—

Section 4A. Any person registering to vote for the first time in the Commonwealth shall provide verification of U.S.

citizenship. Such verification shall include one of the following: a birth certificate, passport or United States

naturalization papers.

Any person who transfers, alters, or defaces any such card or license or who makes, uses, carries, sells, or distributes

a false identification for the purposes of voting illegally shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a

fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

H.583 AN ACT RELATIVE TO VOTER IDENTIFICATION.

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

of the same, as follows:

Chapter 51 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by

striking out Section 45A and inserting in place thereof the following section..- Section 45A.

An applicant for registration shall prove, to the satisfaction of the Clerk or Registrar, that he is a

citizen of the United States. Such proof may be made by producing a birth certificate or papers of

naturalization for inspection, notation of which shall be made a part of the registration of said applicant.

H.565 AN ACT RELATIVE TO VOTER IDENTIFICATION AT ELECTION POLLS.

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. Section 76 of Chapter 54 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking

out the first sentence in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:

Each voter desiring to vote at a polling place shall give his name and his residence to one of the

officers at the entrance to the space within the guard rail, the election officer shall check and

repeat the name and address. The election officer will then request the voter to present one of the

following forms of identification: a Massachusetts driver’s license, a Massachusetts photo

identification card, or a United States passport. The election officer then shall admit the voter to

the space enclosed by the guard rail and, in case official ballots, other than those marked

“Challenged Ballots” as provided by section thirty-five A, are used, such voter shall be given one

ballot. The use of electronic means such as tape recording equipment or radio broadcasting

equipment for the recording or broadcasting of the names of voters not yet checked as having

voted shall be prohibited.

H.569 AN ACT ESTABLISHING VOTER IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES.

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. Section 76 of Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is

hereby amended by striking out the first sentence in its entirety and replacing it with the following sentences:- “An

elections official shall ask each voter desiring to vote at a polling place for his full name and address of residence,

and the official shall repeat the full name and address of residence of said voter. The official shall also instruct the

voter to present one of the following forms of identification to establish his identity: a Commonwealth of

Massachusetts driver’s license, an official Commonwealth of Massachusetts photo identification card, a United

States passport, or a Social Security card.”

SECTION 2. Section 76B of Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby

amended by striking the entire section and inserting the following section in place thereof:-

Testimonials

1)

Joint Committee on Election Laws

July 15^th, 2009

Testimony Regarding Voter Identification at the Polls

            I represent the student body of Boston University as the Interim Director of City Affairs for the Student Union. I am testifying regarding the bills that would require a voter to show identification at the polls. The Boston University Student Union asks that out-of-state driver’s licenses be designated as acceptable identification.

Our student body comes from across the union, and many do not have Massachusetts state driver’s licenses. Many do not drive here in Massachusetts, and therefore never have a reason to obtain a Massachusetts state driver’s license.  These students, some of whom registered to vote for Barack Obama in the general election, would suffer an unnecessary hardship and may even be turned away at the polls for the lack of proper identification.

. Furthermore, while they may carry out-of-state licenses on a regular basis, few students have their Social Security card or passport with them. This makes an out-of-state driver’s license a more appropriate form of identification because it is least likely to hinder student voters.

If you pass H 579 or H 583, both of which establish identification requirements for voter registration, all that will be necessary to ensure the security of our elections is a photo id. Out-of-state driver’s licenses, and even student ids, are sufficient in that regard. The students of Boston University ask that you do not put another burden on our backs by requiring a Massachusetts state photo identification.

                                    James T. Boggie

                                    Interim Director of City Affairs for the Boston University Student Union

2)

To: Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws  

Our voter rights are sacred and indispensable to preserving this great republic.

The danger of requiring all voters to produce a Mass driver’s license, birth certificate, Social security card or other form of photo ID for voter registration is far too restrictive. In the Commonwealth there are over 100 colleges and Universities with many students attending our schools from out of state. Yet they are residents of Mass for the required number of months per year and should have access to our polls.

 I have personally organized voter registration drives at several Universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. What I found was that the students were thrilled to have an opportunity to register and we made this an easy process.

Who would be allowed to accept voter registration applications if the above-mentioned requirements are made into law?

Would I, as a citizen, be allowed to perform voter registration drives or would the students be forced to travel to city or town hall in order to register?

            Would I, as a citizen, be allowed to accept voter registration applications after filing an application to do so?

Many older and younger eligible voters do not drive and do not possess a driver’s license or other form of photo ID and will not go through the bother of filing applications for misplaced birth certificates or SS cards.

 Would these groups of eligible citizens be allowed to register?

Sincerely

Robert W Dwyer

496 Reed Rd

Dartmouth, MA 02747