Jul 11, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Massachusetts high court rejects GOP's challenge to mail-in voting

Erin Doherty

A woman drops off her mail-in ballot at City Hall in Boston during the primary election on Sept. 1, 2020. Photo: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Monday rejected the state's GOP challenge to a law that makes no-excuse mail voting permanent and expands early voting options.

Driving the news: Monday's ruling allows millions of voters to cast their ballot before the state's Sept. 6 primary with no reason needed and creates more options for voting, among other reforms, per the Boston Globe.

A final ruling ahead of the state's November elections will come at a later date, per the court order.

State of play: The state's Republican Party argued that the new law, called the VOTES Act, is unconstitutional and that the expansion of mail voting is "vulnerable to fraud," per the Boston Globe.

"We think the potential for fraud, while not eliminated, is significantly lessened when votes are cast in person at the polling place," the party's lawyer wrote.

The other side: Attorney General Maura Healey in an 87-page brief filed last week said that the GOP "fails to articulate a single plausible claim that anything in the VOTES Act poses a threat to secure voting," adding that the party is "scaremongering," per the Globe.

The big picture: Monday's ruling is the latest in a number of state challenges to voting rules ahead of the midterms elections.

Wisconsin's conservative-led Supreme Court ruled Friday that absentee voter drop boxes are illegal under the state's constitution.

Go deeper... Wisconsin Supreme Court says absentee voter drop boxes are illegal

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Massachusetts high court rejects GOP's challenge to mail-in voting

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