Press Release: LWVMA Endorses Election Day Registration Ballot Question
Fiona SchultzLeague of Women Voters of Massachusetts Endorses Election Day Registration Ballot Question
March 30, 2026
Contact: Celia Canavan, LWVMA Executive Director
(m) 339-235-2145, ccanavan@lwvma.org
BOSTON— After 15 years of organizing, mobilizing, and effort to put Same Day Registration on the Governor’s desk, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts has endorsed ballot initiative No. 25-08, An Act Relative to Election Day Registration (House No. 5001).
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts appeared before the Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions on Tuesday, March 31, in support of the ballot initiative and urged the legislature to act, citing federal anti-voter legislation as the need for urgency. “With the SAVE Act and its related anti-voter legislation currently on the floor of the U.S. Senate, millions of women are waking up every day wondering if today will be the day they lose the rights we fought so hard to gain,” said Celia Canavan, LWVMA Executive Director. “Considering the SAVE Act’s strict identification requirements, EDR would not only be a good policy change, but could become the only avenue to ensure thousands of women across the Commonwealth can exercise their right to vote.”
The League continues to advocate for H.834/S.505, An Act Establishing Same Day Registration of Voters. Still, it looks to the ballot as a critical step to protect voters. “We are incredibly grateful for our champions on Beacon Hill, and hope there can be a legislative solution,” said Canavan. “But we cannot ignore the dire need to ensure that Massachusetts voters are protected.”
If passed, the SAVE America Act would end online and mail-in voter registration, drastically reducing the registration methods available to voters in the Commonwealth. The identification requirements outlined in the SAVE series of bills are projected to affect 69 million women across the country. “EDR is not just a voting rights issue, it’s a women’s rights issue,” Canavan explained. “Our democracy is not a spectator sport — and the League will not let women be sent back to the sidelines we were forced to occupy just over a century ago.”
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (LWVMA) is a nonpartisan political organization dedicated to empowering voters and defending democracy. With 44 local Leagues and over 3,000 members, the League supports 155 communities from Pittsfield to Provincetown.
