UPDATED 4/17/20 4:30PM: On Friday, the SJC accepted the Secretary’s recommendation, slashing the needed signatures by half, extending the deadline for state candidates by one week to May 5 and allowing electronic signatures, albeit a little more broadly than the the Secretary recommended. The Massachusetts
UPDATED 4/16/20 8:53PM: The Senate passed the bill Thursday. Last week the Massachusetts Senate unveiled plans to cut the number of signatures needed for some candidates to get onto the ballot. The proposal, released by Senate President Karen Spilka’s office, would halve the number of
SPRINGFIELD—A proposed effort to bolster voter turnout here, if not cure its anemic state, cleared the City Council Monday night. The victory was short-lived. Mayor Domenic Sarno quickly vetoed the measure, offering a garbled explanation. However, it would not be his nonsensical valley this week.
SPRINGFIELD—Past, present and future orbited around two major items at the City Council’s Monday meeting. The body passed first step on an ordinance to step up election education notifications. It also reallocated $1.5 million from bonds to finance upgrades to Symphony Hall, nee the Municipal
To some, the race for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of the Commonwealth could be the most hotly contested statewide race on the primary. Certainly, this blog thinks so. It pits the current Secretary, William Galvin, who has served since 1995, against Josh Zakim, a
All the fixings were in place. The table was set. Surely, this would be the year Springfield voters would awaken to scarf down the opportunity two open at-large Council seats presented. But once all the ballots were in, turnout was just as disappointing than past cycles, if
Edge of 2017 is a series analyzing the results and aftermath of the 2017 elections in the Pioneer Valley and beyond. SPRINGFIELD—Though just a blip against a national political earthquakes in New Jersey and Virginia, Election Day in the Pioneer Valley did mark both transition
SPRINGFIELD—For whatever reason, Hampden County has a number of missing people—at the polls. Data from 2012 indicates that the county, which contains the commonwealth’s third largest city, falls well below the state’s turnout level. The problem is particularly pronounced here—though not unique countywide—but efforts are
CAMBRIDGE—Substantively little has been or could be done to contain the flood of money into American politics ushered in by Citizens United v. FEC, the 2010 US Supreme Court case that sanctioned unlimited third-party spending in elections. A few weeks ago, people “rolled their eyes”
WESTFIELD—Election Day across the Pioneer Valley had its share of surprises and disappointment. Yet, despite some cursory similarities among six Hampden County cities that held elections, very little wisdom can be confidently drawn from this local cycle with one exception. While the Whip City featured spirited