Register To Vote!

 

Voter Registration

 

Who can vote in Massachusetts:

 

  • You must be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day. 
  • You must be a US citizen.
  • You must be a resident of Massachusetts.
  • Vote at the right location:  Where do I vote? 


How to register:

Online:
Mail-in voter registration can be found online at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elestu/stuidx.htm. Just fill out the address form and one will be mailed to you at home. When the registration form comes to you, just fill it out and mail it in. Within two to three weeks you should receive a written confirmation from your local election office with directions to your designated polling place.

These forms can also be requested by:

In person
You can pick up at your local public library, the post office, your union hall or at city hall. Forms can be hand delivered to your local election office which are listed at: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleclk/clkidx.htm

At the Registry of Motor Vehicles
All the necessary forms can be obtained and turned in at your local RMV. A list of RMV locations in Massachusetts can be found by calling 1-800-858-3926, or by visiting http://www.mass.gov/rmv.

When to register:

You need to register to vote in Massachusetts:

At least 20 days before a state, city, or town Primary Election, General Election, or Prelimary Election in order to be able to vote in that particular election.

10 days before a Special Town Meeting

Important Deadlines for 2010:

  • To Vote in the September 14, 2010 Primary Election you must be registered by August 25, 2010.
  • To Vote in the November 2, 2010 General Election You must be registered by October 13, 2010

 

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Union members are among the most highly registered groups in the country.
Over 75% of union members are registered voters.

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Importance of voting:

Voting doesn't simply decide who gets into office, it tells them who they need to represent.

Elected officials will decide the price and quality of your family's healthcare, the state of our school systems, whether we have good paying jobs, how fairly distributed your taxes are, and the security of our nation.

If you don't vote, the officials won't make the decisions that are best for you; they'll be making them for the people who elected them...

Citizens in the upper income brackets are more likely to be registered (85.9%) and vote more regularly(81.3%).  As a result, their interests are going to be protected over those of lower income households, which vote at a rate as low as 48.3%.

While many of us may think that our one vote does not count, here are a few examples of when one vote really did count in US Politics:

  • In 1977 the mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan was elected by one vote.
  • Marcus Morton was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1839 by one vote out of 102,066 cast.
  • In 2000 George W. Bush won Florida's electoral votes to give him the victory in the presidential election by 537 votes out of 5,861,785 votes cast.

Be informed when you vote:

  • Know where you vote and who your elected officials are by clicking here.
  • Be sure to revisit our website to see which candidates we've endorsed because of their commitments to working families.