A top Beacon Hill Democrat’s willingness to allow voters to tamper with ballot questions even after they are approved on Election Day constitutes “voter suppression,” state Auditor Diana DiZoglio said at a rally in Quincy on Saturday. said.
Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano late last month asked DiZoglio to remove the MCAS graduation requirement and give her office clear authority to reveal Congressional books. When asked if he would change the question to remove initiatives, he did not deny the possibility.
DiZoglio said their comments were “an underhanded attempt to suppress voters.”
“They are trying to dissuade people from voting in their conscience by saying that the people’s vote doesn’t matter, that it essentially overrides the will of the people anyway, and that’s unacceptable.” she told the Herald. “We will continue to fight hard and remind people that their vote matters.”
Mr. Mariano did not directly say last month whether he would rescind or amend Mr. DiZoglio’s voting questions if they become law.
“Let’s see. We’ll see how big the margin is,” he said.
Spilka said lawmakers need to “see what direction we go in.”
DiZoglio said he had discussed with Gov. Maura Healey “how I would require a 100% veto of any attempt to overturn the will of the people on Question 1.”
“I hope that doesn’t happen. I hope that Congressional leaders respect the will of the people of Massachusetts,” she said. “(Healy) said, ‘Okay, let’s continue the discussion.'”
But when it came to the MCAS question, Mariano and Spilka were more explicit about their aversion to eliminating graduation requirements.
Spilka said lawmakers would “have some discussion” if the question passes Tuesday.
“I don’t support repealing MCAS. I believe it’s done, and by some evaluations, I think Massachusetts did well,” Spilka said. “Let’s talk.”
“Someone has to evaluate what we’re doing in the public school system,” Mariano said.
DiZoglio said Massachusetts residents need to vote their “conscience on these issues.”
“We’re going to keep reminding people that their votes matter and fighting for what’s right,” she said.
Healey participates in campaign campaign in Pennsylvania
Gov. Maura Healey has been accumulating frequent flyer miles and hotel points this election cycle.
The first-term Massachusetts governor has lent political influence to countless Democratic candidates ahead of the Nov. 5 election, but with just days left before voters head to the polls, last-minute He decided to go to Pennsylvania to campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Ms. Healy is a super surrogate for the Harris-Waltz campaign, and her decision to spend Friday in the Keystone State shows that Ms. Harris and Ms. Walz are seeking all the help they can get.
Healey and his partner Joanna Lydgate have three events scheduled for Friday, including a meet-and-greet with Harris campaign staff and volunteers in Allentown, an LGBTQ Vote Repeal rally in Allentown, and a similar event in Philadelphia. was.
Healey, one of the country’s first lesbian governors, is a key figure in LGBTQ politics, so it’s no wonder the Harris campaign wanted her to speak at a rally on the issue.
Healy has also spent days campaigning in New Hampshire on behalf of Democrat Joyce Craig, who is running for governor against Republican Kelly Ayotte.
Seth Moulton supports ballot question on psychedelics
Veteran U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, supported a ballot question that would decriminalize the use of psychedelic drugs and allow home cultivation.
The question has gained support from some veterans groups, who say the substance is effective in treating mental health issues such as PTSD. It is supported by the Massachusetts Office of Mental Health Options, which has raised nearly $6 million to advance the measure.
In an opinion piece published Thursday with state Rep. Shirley Alighia, a Chicopee Democrat and veteran, the ballot question said, “Even if it can’t completely save our veterans, it can still save their lives. “This will introduce new treatments that have the potential to make a difference.”
Moulton said in a statement from the policy’s supporters that the state should “move cautiously to increase access to treatments that can change lives.”
“We are reassured that this provision does not encourage recreational use, but rather establishes a process to create regulations that balance access and protection. We can’t do what we’re doing,” Moulton said.
Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, seen here in his Salem home, supports a ballot question that would decriminalize the use of psychedelic drugs. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
