Voter Registration Day: Deadlines For Voting In Nov. 7 MA Elections

MASSACHUSETTS — The drive to get people to the polls for the Nov. 7 off-year elections in Massachusetts starts in earnest Tuesday, Sept. 19, with National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday observed for the past decade to reach tens of thousands of Americans who might not otherwise register.

A step-by-step process on the National Voter Registration Day website guides potential voters through registration. For all potential voters: Check your registration status, especially if you’ve moved since you last voted, recently turned 18 or changed your name.

Successfully registering now ensures eligibility to vote in Massachusetts’s Nov. 7 elections, where many municipal government contests are on the ballot as well as two special legislative elections.

In Massachusetts, the last date to register to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 7 election varies by city, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Polling hours and offices on local election ballots also vary by city.

For example, the deadline to register to vote in the Worcester and Hampshire Senate District election is Oct. 28. The vote-by-mail application deadline is Oct. 31. Polling hours Nov. 7 are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth's page includes a full list of cities holding municipal elections in Massachusetts in 2023.

More than 5 million Americans have registered to vote in the Voter Registration Day project to date. Last year, 414,016 people registered to vote for the first time on the day of the observance. More information can be found in the 2022 annual report.

U.S. states have passed a near-record number of laws that restrict voting rights so far in 2023, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute.

The Brennan Center noted that the near-record pace of laws tightening restrictions was fueled by a still active 2020 presidential election denial movement, but has been matched by moves in state legislatures to boost voting access.

In fact, the policy institute said, more expansive than restrictive laws were passed this year. Geographic divisions persist, though.

Calling it a “troubling development,” the Brennan Center noted that some legislatures have targeted direct democracy with limits on the way voters can pass ballot measures. The Brennan Center also noted a push to criminalize more aspects of voting and election administration.

At the same time, several states provided legal protections for election workers as they face increased threats to their safety.