Auditor Suzanne Bump
State Auditor Suzanne Bump ruled last month that the state’s early voting law results in an unfunded mandate on cities and towns, and that municipalities may seek reimbursement from the Commonwealth for the cost of establishing a sufficiently staffed early voting polling location with privacy for voters during the days before election day.
The city of Woburn and town of Oxford separately petitioned the auditor’s Division of Local Mandates last fall, arguing that early voting imposed service and cost obligations as delineated in the state’s local mandate law. In determinations released on Feb. 14, Bump agreed.
“Woburn and Oxford can use the determination provided today to seek a court-ordered exemption from compliance with the law until state funding is provided,” the Division of Local Mandates said in a prepared statement. “Additionally, local governments can seek legislative changes to the law, which may involve state funding for mandated expenses, or modification of the mandate.”
A statewide survey of early voting costs undertaken by the auditor’s office estimated that municipalities spent $719,708 on those mandated costs.
Many municipalities extended early voting beyond the minimum requirements of the law, opening additional optional polling locations and offering evening and weekend hours. These costs, along with office supplies, newspaper advertising, police details at early voting locations, and costs associated with a central vote tabulation facility, are optional and not unfunded mandates according to Bump. The survey estimates that municipalities spent $1.2 million on costs that do not qualify as unfunded mandates.
The early voting law, passed in 2014 and put into effect for the first time last year, requires cities and towns during biennial elections to provide the ability to vote during a 12-day early voting period. One out of every five registered voters in Massachusetts cast their ballots early last year.
The local mandate law prohibits the Legislature and state agencies from passing the cost of implementing state-mandated programs onto cities and towns, and allows municipalities to petition the Division of Local Mandates to make a determination if they believe such an unfunded mandate exists.
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Link to the State Auditor’s website for more information
