Massachusetts voters will be allowed to utilize the state’s expanded early and mail-in voting rules during the state’s Sept. primary, the state’s highest court ruled Monday.
An order by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court effectively blocked an effort by Republicans in the state who had sought to stop the new voting rules — the main feature of a new law enacted last month called the VOTES Act — from going into effect.
The short unsigned order Monday states that the court will issue a “full opinion explaining the court’s reasoning” in “due course.”
Republican opponents of the VOTES Act — signed into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last month after advancing through the Democratic-controlled state Legislature — had claimed the law violated the state’s constitution. Many also falsely claimed that expanded absentee voting is more susceptible to fraud — a disproven allegation frequently made by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
The law makes universal, no-excuse mail-in voting in the state permanent, giving millions of Massachusetts voters the ability to vote by mail without having to provide a reason.
It also expands options for early voting. Prior to the law being enacted, voters casting absentee ballots could only do so if they were out of town on Election Day, had a religion-related scheduling conflict or had a disability. Many of the new rules formalized by the law had taken effect on a temporary basis during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
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