By CHRIS COLLINS
(Greenfield, MA) — The city of Greenfield is preparing to update its laws regarding electioneering activity. The current law prevents any election activities or displays within 150 feet of the polls. But Greenfield City Clerk Kathy Scott has proposed that the law be expanded to include a 150-foot buffer around any site where early or absentee voting may occur, including city hall.
“My goal is to have the same rules for everyone casting ballots, regardless of where it’s happening,” Scott told the City Council’s Appointents and Ordinances Committee Wednesday night, adding that the regulation would extend to any building where balloting activity is taking place.
Scott said the impetus for the change grew out of the November 2019 city election, where at least one candidate campaigned on the steps of city hall while people were voting inside the building.
The Appoointments and Ordinances Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full council approve the change, which could happen at the council’s regular monthly meeting on December 16th.