After lawsuit, Secretary of Commonwealth agrees to produce legally mandated report on voting in jail

In response to a lawsuit filed with the state’s highest court, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin agreed this week to complete legally mandated reports on voting in jail after two state elections passed with no oversight, advocates said.

“This is a win for voting rights and for detained voters across Massachusetts,” Brooke Simone, attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights and lead counsel in the case, said in a statement. “The reports will show whether State and local officials are providing access to the ballot box for those in jail, as the Massachusetts Legislature intended.”

Nearly 9,000 incarcerated people in Massachusetts are eligible to vote, according to the Campaign Legal Center. After the VOTES Act was signed in 2022 by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, the law required Secretary Bill Galvin’s office to issue reports after each statewide election.

The law requires Galvin “to issue public reports after each statewide election detailing how many eligible incarcerated voters are in the Commonwealth, how many requested vote-by-mail or absentee ballots, and whether they were actually able to vote,” the complaint said. The secretary’s office has six months to comply.

However, Galvin’s office failed to produce any reports within six months of elections on Sept. 3, 2024 and November 5, 2025, CLC argued. The nonpartisan center filed an order with the Supreme Judicial Court last month, which was resolved earlier this week.

In a statement, Galvin’s office blamed the delay on “technical issues.”

“Having the Secretary’s guarantee that he will make changes moving forward is one of the most important pieces of this agreement,” said petitioner Justin “Rico” Rodriguez, who was recently released from MCI-Norfolk. “The upcoming midterms will be critical for eligible incarcerated voters.”

Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson for the Secretary of the Commonwealth, said the SJC signed off on a negotiated settlement agreement. The report “will include detailed statistical information about the number of eligible voters who were incarcerated in 2024, and how many of those potential voters cast a ballot,” she said.

“Our office strives to ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote has the opportunity to cast a ballot, including those who are incarcerated and retain their rights,” O’Malley said in an email. “We are pleased that we were able to explain to the plaintiffs the technical issues that caused the delay in publication of the report.”

CLC said the secretary also agreed to implement improvements to the office’s existing processes for data collection and analysis before the Sept. 1 statewide primary.

“We need to know how many people try to vote in September and November, and how many are successful,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “We also need to know how many are unsuccessful and why, so that we can address whatever needs to be addressed and so that all voices are equally heard and equally represented.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.