As your city councilor, I will do everything in my power to expand the electorate so that those directly impacted by our policies can have a say in who represents them. For example, we could enfranchise up to 9,000 new voters by lowering the voting age to 16. In addition, Boston is home to a massive population of immigrants who, like my father, have been living here for decades but can’t vote because of their legal resident status. I will work to give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections to have a voice in who represents them at City Hall. Expanding the electorate will also require that we remove barriers to voting; I’m committed to implementing automatic and same-day voter registration. 

Implementing ranked-choice voting in Boston will allow voters to show their support for all candidates and ideas. We know most Boston voters support ranked-choice voting, and I will continue the fight to ensure we implement real choice into our elections in Boston and across the state. 

As a first-generation Black woman running for office, I have seen firsthand that our campaign finance system favors corporations and the wealthy. People should not have more say in an election just because they have money to spend, which is why I will propose a publicly funded election system for local elections in Boston. New York City has successfully implemented a Matching Funds Program, where candidates can receive money to match small-dollar donations from the city if they reach a certain donation threshold. This is an excellent first step to give people more power and special interests less. However, we can go a step further, eliminating special interest money from Boston municipal elections altogether and allowing campaigns to be fully publicly funded.

Despite being eligible voters, people who are incarcerated are routinely denied the information and ability to vote. However, just because someone is incarcerated does not mean they should struggle to cast their vote. The City Council has significant leverage over jails and prisons in Boston. I will fight to require them to provide all eligible inmates with essential documents, such as voter registration forms and absentee ballot request forms. I will also support civic engagement programs within jails and prisons to imbue people with the desire to vote and participate in other parts of the civic process, such as community organizing.