The state’s top election officials said concerns that a driver’s license law for people without legal immigration status taking effect next month could interfere with the automatic voter registration system are not justified.
People without lawful proof of presence in the United States can apply for a driver’s license in Massachusetts starting July 1 so long as they have two documents verifying their identity and date of birth. The law was billed as a way to increase road safety and make sure all drivers on the road are insured.
But Republicans who unsuccessfully tried to block the measure last year said Massachusetts residents without legal status could inadvertently be registered to vote through the state’s automatic voter registration system while applying for a license.
Secretary of State William Galvin, who manages elections in Massachusetts, said he does not foresee any issues as people start to seek out licenses next month.
“Do I think there’s going to be a problem? No, I don’t,” he told the Herald. “We’ve had a long experience with people, because of the high number of non-native born persons in the state already, who are not citizens who have driver’s licenses. We’ve had a lot of extensive experience with that. I don’t see it being a problem.”
Former Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a version of the law in May 2022, citing concerns over automatic voter registration and the Registry of Motor Vehicle’s ability to verify foreign documents. Democrats disagreed and overwhelmingly overrode the veto a month later, cementing the then-proposal as state law.
Galvin said his office has taken additional steps “to make it very clear” that a person without proof of lawful presence in the U.S. does not have the right to vote under the driver’s license law.
He said his office’s top lawyer drafted amendments to the state’s automatic voter registration regulations that “puts it in clear language” that people who are not legally in the United States cannot register to vote under the system. It also provides the state cover if “we are sued,” he said.
“The best way to make sure there’s no ambiguity is to put it right there. It’s reflective of the fact we are going to have a change as of July 1 in the category of people who will be entitled to get licenses,” he said.
Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie said the agency has shared voter registration information with the secretary of state’s office “for a long time.”
“We have a process that we use to ensure that only those people that would meet the eligibility to register to vote as citizens get transferred to the secretary of the commonwealth,” Ogilvie told the Herald. “We’ll continue to follow that process.”