Fair elections depend on one basic promise: that the names on a nomination paper are real people who actually signed. When that promise breaks down, it doesn't just hurt one candidate or one party — it makes every voter wonder whether the whole system can be trusted. That trust is hard to earn and easy to lose.
Here's what happened: the State Ballot Law Commission found that Michael Walsh, a Republican candidate for attorney general, did not submit the required 10,000 certified signatures to qualify for the September primary. A judge then reinstated him on procedural grounds. Whatever you think of the candidate, that sequence should concern all of us. It means someone can get onto our ballot even after the state's own commission flags serious signature problems — and the door that opened for this candidate stays open for anyone else who wants to use it. Signature fraud isn't a partisan issue. It's a shortcut that lets people bypass the basic work of earning a place on the ballot, and right now our laws don't make it hard enough to try.
I'm asking you to push for stronger, clearer ballot signature verification standards in Massachusetts — whether that means tightening the rules the State Ballot Law Commission uses, closing the procedural gaps that allowed this reinstatement, or requiring faster independent review when fraud is alleged. Voters deserve a process where the gatekeeping actually works.
Please act now to close the loopholes that let disputed signatures put someone on a Massachusetts ballot.
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