Voting Rights Restoration
An Act relative to voting rights restoration / Proposal for a legislative amendment to the Constitution relative to voting rights
ON THIS PAGE:
- About the bill
- Bill history
- Advocates
What this bill would do:
- Restore voting rights for disenfranchised individuals who have been convicted of a felony
Why we need it:
Massachusetts passed the VOTES Act in 2022, which created protections for jail-based voting, but this legislation did not go as far as ending disenfranchisement. With nearly 7,500 Bay Staters being disenfranchised, and many of them being People of Color (POC), there is a need for further action to restore the rights of Bay Staters.
7
years in consideration by the legislature
4
times killed by the legislature
The Logistics
- This bill would strike out language in the state’s Constitution which prohibits individuals who are serving time for a felony conviction from voting
Does your legislator support Voting Rights Restoration?
Bill History
The legislature’s website makes it extremely difficult to track bills from session to session, so we have compiled the complete bill history here. Each time the bill is killed, it is highlighted in red text and the people or committee to blame are linked where possible.
194th Session: 2025-2026
May 2026: “Placed on file” (House) 05/01/2026
April 2026: “Placed on file” (Senate) 04/27/2026
April 2026: “Sent to Study” (Bill) 04/02/2026
September 2025: Hearing held (Bill) 09/16/2025
May 2025: Proposal deemed “ought not to pass” under Joint Rule 23
April 2025: Hearing held (Proposal) 04/01/2025
February 2025: Bill referred to Joint Committee on Election Laws
193rd Session: 2023-2024
August 2024: “Sent to Study” H.4923
September 2023: Hearing scheduled for 09/13/2023
February 2023: Referred to Joint Committee on Election Laws
191st Session: 2019-2020
Advocacy Organizations
Our allies leading the fight for this bill
