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The following was submitted by Town Clerk MaryEllen Marshall:
Ballot Question #4 on the 2026 State Election Ballot would allow eligible individuals to register to vote or update their voter registration address on Election Day. Currently, the deadline for voter registration is 10 days prior to Election Day.
The law, if adopted, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2028.
This law would apply to all “Election Days,” which include local, primary and special elections.
The implementation of this proposal would be handled at the local level, which in the case of Winchester would be the Town Clerk’s office.
Without taking a position on the proposed question, the Town Manager’s office was asked by the Select Board to share potential impacts on Winchester should the question be adopted.
The Town Clerk has identified the following areas of potential impact:
• Increased election staff or poll workers to process same-day registrations.
• Post-election research as necessary to allow the processing of provisional ballots
cast by same-day registrants who could not be added to the voter rolls on
Election Day.
• The ability of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office to provide accurate and
timely access to the statewide voter registration database they maintain which is
necessary to add someone as a registered voter or update their legal address.
Winchester conducts its Election Day voting at Winchester High School, where all eight precincts vote in person. If each precinct was required to have an additional staff member present to handle voter registration, eight more staff would have to be hired and trained.
Town Clerk staff members working with trained part-time staff would handle the post- election work involving provisional ballot validation in the clerk’s office.
Election results must be certified within 15 days of Election Day.
Winchester has already transitioned to a fully electronic voter database for all elections and has sufficient voting machines to handle the entire town. The only direct, secure link to the state voter database is in the clerk’s central office, and the state has not indicated that there are any plans to expand access.
Recognizing Winchester’s existing technical capabilities, the most likely projected
impact would be additional part-time staff and training. The Town Clerk estimates that such a cost is likely to be less than $10,000.
The State Auditor recognized the potential for increased costs at the local level for
Election Day voter registration in 2017 testimony to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Election Laws:
“Similar to early voting. it is our belief that incorporating same-day voter
registration will require additional staff and time from local election officials above
what is currently required for elections and early voting. This would almost
certainly lead to an increased need for funding and resources to smoothly
execute the voter registration process.”
Auditor Suzanne Bump Testimony on Same Day Voter Registration
The National Conference of State Legislatures has also identified additional costs for staff/poll workers, the potential for additional poll books or ballots, and the capability of a state’s voter registration database to support local offices as potential local impacts of same-day voter registration.
The state currently provides financial support to local communities for early voting, which was deemed an unfunded mandate by the State Auditor’s office. The Secretary of the Commonwealth has not indicated any plans for additional financial support for local clerk’s offices for Election Day voter registration.
More information about Question #4 can be found at the Secretary of the
Commonwealth’s website at 2026 Massachusetts Information for Voters - Ballot
Question 4.
