Asian Amer. Resource Workshop (AARW) | Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) | Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. (CMAA) | Chelsea Collaborative | Coalition for a Better Acre | DBEDC: Youth Force | Greenroots | La Comunidad | Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants | Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) | McKnight Community Development Corporation | Mothers United for Justice & Equality | Neighbors United for a Better East Boston (NUBE) | NEU4J, New England United 4 Justice | North Shore CDC | Pearls of Distinction | Project RIGHT, Inc.
The Women's Pipeline For Change (WPL) kicked off its relaunch Saturday Feb 23rd. Hosted at the Brockton Public Library the renewed initiative will aid women of color attempting to enter public office.
Legislative Update: EDR Filed
MassVOTE is proud to announce our head sponsors for Election Day Registration! This session Rep. Liz Malia (left) of Boston and Rep. Jennifer Benson (right) of Lunenburg have agreed to sponsor and push EDR as priority legislative initiatives.
Both Representatives have a strong and tenured history of promoting modernized voting mechanisms from Early Voting, Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) and not only endorse EDR but also initiatives such as Ranked-Choice Voting.
Together H 636 & H 685 have garnered 55 House Co-Sponsors over a third of the lower chamber. Of the Co-Sponsors, 4th Division Chair, Louis Kafka, a cabinet member for the Speaker, has issued his support for EDR. The House Co-Sponsorship Deadline was February 1st.
On the Senate side over one-fourth of the upper chamber has signed on in support including former President of the Senate, Harriette Chandler of Worcester. The Senate has passed EDR on three different occasions and does not have a co-sponsorship deadline. Senate Majority leader Cynthia Creem of Newton is the head sponsor in the upper chamber.
YCL Spotlight: Joy
How do you stay non-partisan in your role?
"As a YCL as well as working with MassVOTE in general, our main job is to inspire and foster a voting culture instead of choosing which party to vote with. We must praise the right to vote and how it can make a change in the community around us. The more people who get increased education on voting, the more chance a positive change can occur. Remaining non-partisan is key because it covers everyone's interests as well as ours whether you are a democrat, republican or whatever the case may be, my job is to educate people on their rights and the potential voting has."
What do you say to people who say their vote does not matter?
"Voting always matters. Every citizen is responsible for what happens in any election whether it is presidential or local. Your vote can be the one that can swing an election around. Usually, the people who don't vote are t the ones who are not content with the outcome of the election. You can easily and feasibly change that by voting and feel empowered by your voice at the ballot box."