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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4180 FILED ON: 3/1/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3742 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Christine P. Barber |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act granting the City of Somerville the authority to provide legal voting rights in municipal |
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| 13 | 13 | | elections for City of Somerville residents aged 16 and 17 years old. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex3/1/2023Patricia D. JehlenSecond Middlesex3/29/2023Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex3/30/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4180 FILED ON: 3/1/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3742 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representative Barber of Somerville, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3742) of |
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| 20 | 20 | | Christine P. Barber, Patricia D. Jehlen and Erika Uyterhoeven (with the approval of the mayor |
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| 21 | 21 | | and city council) that the city of Somerville be authorized to provide voting rights in municipal |
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| 22 | 22 | | elections for certain residents aged 16 and 17 years old. Election Laws. [Local Approval |
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| 23 | 23 | | Received.] |
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| 24 | 24 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 25 | 25 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 761 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 26 | 26 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 30 | 30 | | _______________ |
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| 31 | 31 | | An Act granting the City of Somerville the authority to provide legal voting rights in municipal |
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| 32 | 32 | | elections for City of Somerville residents aged 16 and 17 years old. |
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| 33 | 33 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 34 | 34 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 35 | 35 | | 1 SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of chapter 51 of the General |
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| 36 | 36 | | 2Laws or any other general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any individual aged |
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| 37 | 37 | | 316 or 17 years old residing in the City of Somerville, who is ineligible to vote due to age under |
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| 38 | 38 | | 4state law, but who is otherwise eligible to vote under state law, may upon application have their |
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| 39 | 39 | | 5names entered on a list of voters established by the board of election commissioners for the City |
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| 40 | 40 | | 6of Somerville. Such individuals on the list of voters may vote in any election for local offices and |
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| 41 | 41 | | 7local ballot questions in accordance with this Act. For the purposes of this Act, "local voters" are 2 of 2 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 8anyone who is eligible to vote pursuant to this Act in a local election or upon a local ballot |
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| 43 | 43 | | 9question in the City of Somerville. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 10 SECTION 2. Said board of election commissioners shall establish a separate registration |
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| 45 | 45 | | 11list for local voters who shall fill out an alternative registration form. Upon turning eighteen, |
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| 46 | 46 | | 12each local voter shall be taken off the separate list and notified that he or she must register as a |
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| 47 | 47 | | 13regular voter in accordance with state law, regulations, and guidelines, in order to be eligible to |
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| 48 | 48 | | 14vote. Said board shall create and print, at the city of Somerville's expense, the special registration |
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| 49 | 49 | | 15form needed for the purpose of registering local voters. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 16 SECTION 3. Said board is hereby authorized to promulgate regulations, guidelines and |
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| 51 | 51 | | 17forms to implement the purpose of this act. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 18 SECTION 4. If a local ballot question appears on a state election ballot, the board shall |
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| 53 | 53 | | 19print a separate ballot for the local ballot question at the expense of the City of Somerville. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 20 SECTION 5. The City of Somerville is hereby authorized to pass ordinances to |
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| 55 | 55 | | 21implement the purpose of this act subject to all the provisions of the Somerville city charter. |
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| 56 | 56 | | 22 SECTION 6. Nothing in this act shall be construed to confer upon local voters the right to |
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| 57 | 57 | | 23vote for any state or federal office or any state or federal ballot questions. |
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