Voter ID in Massachusetts is one step closer to reality now.
The initiative petition filed by the Committee to Bring Voter ID was certified by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office on Wednesday, September 1.
That means that the committee can proceed and start gathering signatures next month. The next hurdle it needs to clear is collecting at least 80,239 signatures of registered voters in Massachusetts by November 17, 2021, in hopes of making the November 2022 general election ballot in the state.
Supporters of making voters show a photo identification at the polls say it would help make sure that only properly registered voters are voting, and that it’s not burdensome than what people have to do for everyday activities like boarding an airplane or cashing a check.
Tatyana Semyrog, a Duxbury Republican who ran for state representative last year, chairs the committee that wants to put a voter ID requirement on the statewide ballot. She says it’s a proposal Bay Staters should have no problem supporting.
“Polls show Americans overwhelmingly support voter identification requirements, and we’re confident that safeguarding our elections against fraud and abuse is an issue that a large majority of Massachusetts voters care about,” Semyrog said in a written statement issued by the MassGOP on Thursday. “Since the Democrat-dominated state Legislature will never address this matter, we’ve decided to bring it straight to the people.”
Semyrog cited a June 2021 Monmouth poll that showed 4 in 5 Americans (80 percent) support requiring people to provide a photo ID to vote.
Semyrog said that the committee has attracted close to 4,000 volunteers across the state who will start gathering signatures next week.
She added: “Voting should be easy and cheating should be hard, this proposal is a commonsense way to ensure election integrity.”
Opponents say requiring a photo identification at the polls would cause a chilling effect and may disenfranchise certain voters.
Healey, the state’s Attorney General, allowed the question to advance to the signature-gathering process despite her personal opposition to voter ID laws.
“We know voter ID disproportionately affects the poor, people of color and the elderly,” Healey wrote. “It’s just wrong.”
Former state representative Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman), who is running for governor of Massachusetts, supports the initiative.
Diehl said in a Facebook post on Friday, September 3 that he requiring identification for voters as a tool to prevent voter fraud.
“In our world, we show ID to do so many things: driving a car, getting on a plane, buying cigarettes and alcohol, etc,” Diehl wrote. “Why wouldn’t we show ID to vote to ensure we are who we say we are? It is a no brainer. Additionally, with the Democrats’ push to show vaccination cards to get into businesses now, they would be completely hypocritical to ask people to show their personal medical information to shop in a store, but not an ID to vote in our elections.”
Here is the proposed wording of the potential voter ID ballot question:
INITIATIVE PETITION FOR A LAW TO REQUIRE VOTER IDENTIFICATION IN MASSACHUSETTS
Be it enacted by the People, and by their authority:
Chapter 54 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following Section 163:
“To affirm the integrity of the electoral process, before being given a ballot on election day at a polling place, each prospective voter must present identification to a properly designated poll worker, which identification must have been issued by a branch of the United States government or of the Commonwealth or by a tribal authority recognized by either the United States or the Commonwealth and must include a picture of the prospective voter. Should any person fail to present such identification, he or she may choose to execute an affidavit attesting to his or her identity and residence, in which case such person shall be given a ballot.“
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