Reply #24: Boston Plans a Drive To Boost Voter Turnout...

[livvy]

Boston plans a drive to boost voter turnout that would allow same-day registration. Above, a voter and her children in Hyde Park. (George Rizer/ Globe Staff/ File 2003)

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 12, 2006

The city of Boston plans an all-out drive to allow voter registration on Election Day, and will launch aggressive voter drives among new Bostonians and high school students in an effort to boost turnout in the minority and non-English-speaking communities, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said last week.

Same-day registration, which would require approval from the Legislature, was among the major reforms recommended in a task force report that was commissioned by the mayor and made available to The Boston Globe.

In other states, the system has boosted voter participation by as much as 15 percent.

The task force also recommended that the city consider a weekend voting system, giving voters two or more days to cast their ballots.

But Menino, in an interview, said that he preferred to encourage voters who find it inconvenient to vote on the actual day of the election to file absentee ballots. Menino appointed the task force last year to examine the city's voting system after the US Department of Justice accused Boston of violating the rights of Hispanic and Asian-American voters and of ``improperly influencing, coercing, or ignoring the ballot choices" of voters who were not proficient in English.

Menino had initially vowed to fight the suit in court; he later forged a pact with the Justice Department that settled the case.

>more

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/06/12/city_tries_to_build_voter_turnout/

V is for

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=846&Itemid=113
and

http://www.votersunite.org/news.asp
and

http://votefraudnews.com/news/index.php
and

http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?list=type&type=38
and

http://www.velvetrevolution.us/