Court-Ordered Report on Jail Voting in Massachusetts Finds Low-Rate
by Michael Dean Thompson
Less than 10% of eligible incarcerated voters applied for a ballot in the run-up to the 2024 election in Massachusetts. Of those, just over half had their ballots returned and counted, according to a new report released by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.
Incarcerated persons in Massachusetts have the right to vote as long as their conviction is a misdemeanor or they are detained pretrial. As a result, the number of eligible voters is fairly low, just 4,627 in 2024. Despite a 2022 law, the VOTES Act, mandating public reporting on statewide incarcerated voting, citizens had to sue to get the data. See: Hobbs v. Galvin, SJC Massachusetts, NO SJ-2026-0053.
Advocates asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to force the state into compliance. Along with requiring reports on incarcerated voter data, the VOTES Act requires education and election information be provided to the facilities with eligible voters. It also requires those facilities to aid the potential voters with registering and applying for a ballot. The state will be further compelled to submit progress reports through March 1, 2027. The progress reports will illuminate efforts to improve data collection and analysis as officials prepare for the September 2026 statewide election as well as the next two.
Most states forbid people convicted of felonies from voting in some manner. Yet, there are a number of people who have not yet been convicted of a felony but remain in jail for various reasons. Their incarceration alone is not enough to disenfranchise them. Yet, the numbers returned in the report appear to signal that many eligible voters are not casting ballots.
Lawyers for Civil Rights contributed to the lawsuit’s filing. Staff Attorney Brook Simone said the lawsuit was just the beginning, telling Campaign Legal Center, “The numbers are abysmal: fewer than 5% of eligible incarcerated [voters] cast a ballot in the 2024 state general election. The report gives our clients the data they need to understand why the system failed so many eligible voters—and to demand reforms necessary to ensure that jail-based voting rights are meaningful, accessible, and real.”
Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization working for democracy advancements through law, participated in the suit. Legal counsel Kate Uyeda was quoted on the organization’s post reflecting on a larger effort of organizing in Massachusetts, “Just voting data is notoriously difficult to get, and this report will help advocates build a path forward to ensure eligible voters in jail can have a voice in their democracy.”
Source: Campaign Legal Center
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