“We have no idea what it would cost. We receive the list of registered voters from the state. But immigration is a federal program, and as far as I know, there is no database available to my office of local green card holders. My office is also is responsible for printing ballots, management of voter lists and programming voting machines, and this legislation could potentially have a massive impact on those tasks.”

— Connor Degan, Town Clerk

(from the January 17, 2024 HopNews article, “Town Clerk and Select Board at Odds on Permanent Resident Voting”)

At the January 9, 2024 Select Board meeting, Town Clerk Connor Degan addressed the Select Board during the Public Forum.

Degan appeared to be choosing his words carefully, but his message was clear. “I was disappointed to see that we’re talking about a major local election reform without any consultation with the election office,” he said.

Degan went on to say that there are many challenges to passing legislation that allows Permanent Residents to vote and that they would “dramatically effect how we run elections in Hopkinton.”

At issue is a proposed article for the Annual Town Meeting Warrant, which is being put forth by the Select Board, that would allow non-US citizens to vote in Hopkinton elections.

Read the entire article here.