“I’d just like to take a moment to celebrate the outstanding achievement of FDC’s own Norma Shulman in being the driving force behind the success of Ballot Initiative #4 – Same Day Voter Registration.

This ballot initiative sprung from a conversation between Norma and Secretary of State Galvin in which Norma suggested that a ballot initiative would be effective and faster than a legislative approach.  Secretary Galvin expressed his full support and challenged Norma to take the lead in meeting the requirements of Article 48 of the Mass Constitution.

And lead she did!   She led two successful rounds of signature gathering:

1)   75,574 statewide signatures to refer the matter for legislative action in Dec 2025

2)   With no legislative action, she then led gathering of another 12,429 signatures (new ones!  Not prior signers) by July 2026.

Finally, there was the process of getting the word out and educating the electorate on why voting “YES” is the right thing to do.

Norma personally authored the Red Book argument in favor of initiative #4, and the MA Republican Party authored the “NO” case.   You can see this here:

 https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/research-and-statistics/2026-Information-for-voters/2026-ballot-question4.htm

Norma’s political savvy and organizing skills and personal commitment and energy have had a great positive impact on improving the voting process in our State.   Please join me in congratulating her on this outstanding achievement!

Doug Lawrence, Chair”