Massachusetts First

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For background, read Non-citizen Voting Rights Petitions in Massachusetts and Shutesbury Follow-up: Special Town Meeting

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After waiting a month, Shutesbury finally posted the minutes of the Special Town Meeting held on December 3, 2024. At this meeting, Article 7, allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections and serve on local boards, commissions, and committees, was presented and voted on.

Read on to learn about the futile attempt to access public information from one small Town Office before they are good and ready to share it.

We tried another avenue after receiving the cold shoulder from the Shutesbury Town Clerk. On January 3, when we emailed the Shutesbury Town Selectmen and the Town Administrator to inquire about the minutes, they still hadn’t been posted.

We received this (apparently automatic, given the timestamp) response:

The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law referenced as a reason not to respond to a member of the public seems technically correct because the email was sent to multiple members of the board. If the email had been sent to one individual using an unshared email account, a response might have been forthcoming or at least allowable. Additionally, the law specifically prohibits deliberation, not answering factual questions. However, none of the Select Board Members have individual emails on the town website, making it impossible to request information from just one. Perhaps this is designed to skirt responsibility, or maybe it’s an old-school leftover or cost-saving measure. Regardless, it seems silly that a simple question about a public meeting would not be answered. Would a different outcome be achieved regarding any other, less controversial article in the Town Warrant?

Back to the subject at hand.

During several visits to the Shutesbury Town website, other meeting minutes became available, even though the dates of those meetings occurred after the Special Town meeting.

After checking the historical town minutes for reference, the town clerk took about a month to post them after a town meeting. At the time of the screenshot, it had been over a month.

JLK decided to prod things along a bit on X:

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You may recall from previous articles that Grace Bannasch is the Shutesbury Town Clerk, and the quote “Make paperwork accessible you cowards” is displayed on her X profile page.

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The meeting minutes appeared the very next day.

Read the complete minutes PDF here

Or skip to the important part, which has been the subject of much unnecessary effort to access:

Now, see, was that so hard?

Unsurprisingly, in a town that overwhelmingly supported Kamala Harris in November, they voted to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. Like the other cities and towns before it, the results of this vote don’t immediately allow non-citizens to vote in Shutesbury local elections. The state legislature must approve the measure. We will see if one (or both) of the Shutesbury representatives files a bill in the 194^th General Court requesting permission.

Aaron Saunders and Joanne Comerford have previously  filed a similar bill for the town of Wendell.

Comerford has also filed bills for other towns in her district, indicating her strong advocacy for non-citizen voting.

Several of these bills have languished for years but continue to be refiled, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pass through the legislature. Despite the nearly 100 percent Democrat Trifecta in the state government, the window of opportunity may have passed with the incoming Trump Administration.

by Citizens for Truth Contributor