Massachusetts Voter Education Network (MassVOTE) is a Boston-based non-profit focused on increasing voter turnout and civic participation. It receives funding from a number of left-of-center organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation, and the Barr Foundation. ¹

History

The Massachusetts Voter Education Network was founded in 1999 with the purpose of increasing voter turnout in urban communities of color. ²

Funding

In 2016 $533,514 of the group’s revenue came from contributions and grants, and $18,889 came from program service revenue. ³ Notable funders of MassVote include a number of left-of-center organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation, and the Barr Foundation;¹ in 2009, the Service Employees International Union provided the group with $40,000. ⁴

Activities

MassVote runs a variety of programs aimed at increasing civic engagement and voter turnout. The groups administers the Civic Engagement Initiative fund that makes grants to community groups that promote civic engagement. They also run workshops for educating the public on areas such as voting rights, the legislative process and arguments in favor of voting. ⁵

The group advocates for Election Day voter registration, claiming that Massachusetts’ current 20 day cut-off disenfranchises voters. ⁶ They also call for the wards in Boston to be redrawn to eliminate long voting lines in high population wards. ⁷ MassVote favors implementing ranked choice voting in Massachusetts. ⁸ The group also advocated for automatically registering voters. ⁹

MassVote considers ID requirements for voting, as well as the removal of inactive voters from voter rolls, to be threats to voting. ¹⁰

1. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of MetaSoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted September 20, 2019.
2. “MassVote.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/.
3. Massachusetts Voter Education Network, IRS (Form 990) 2016, Part I
4. Service Employees International Union, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2009, Schedule 16
5. “Democracy for All.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/democracy-for-all?fbclid=IwAR27zQOymXM1Vr-MXjAVYRZf2FRo_LQfBNUyq1HggVQ-dZAclVtEDoXK7As.
6. “Election Day Registration.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/election-day-registration?fbclid=IwAR27zQOymXM1Vr-MXjAVYRZf2FRo_LQfBNUyq1HggVQ-dZAclVtEDoXK7As.
7. “Re-Precinct Boston.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/re-precinct-boston?fbclid=IwAR27zQOymXM1Vr-MXjAVYRZf2FRo_LQfBNUyq1HggVQ-dZAclVtEDoXK7As.
8. “Ranked Choice Voting.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/copy-of-ranked-choice-voting?fbclid=IwAR27zQOymXM1Vr-MXjAVYRZf2FRo_LQfBNUyq1HggVQ-dZAclVtEDoXK7As.
9. Statehouse News Service. “Low Voter Turnout Cited in New Push for Automatic Voter Registration.” masslive, November 11, 2017. https://www.masslive.com/politics/2017/11/low_voter_turnout_cited_in_new.html.
10. “Threats to Voting Today.” MassVote.org. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://www.massvote.org/threats-to-voting?fbclid=IwAR27zQOymXM1Vr-MXjAVYRZf2FRo_LQfBNUyq1HggVQ-dZAclVtEDoXK7As.