Car Companies Fail in Attempt to Kill Massachusetts Referendum Regarding Car Owner Control of Repair Data
On Wednesday, July 8, the vehicle manufacturers under the guise of the Coalition for Safe and Secure Data, submitted a legal challenge to the Massachusetts Ballot Commission, arguing that the Right to Repair Committee disobeyed electronic signature-gathering requirements outlined by the Massachusetts Supreme Court by storing the signatures in a separate file and tracking personal data without notification.
However, in a similar case decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Court on Monday, a candidate for Congress, Helen Brady, who used the same signature gathering vendor used by the Massachusetts Right to Repair Committee, had her challenge approved—thus allowing Brady to move on to the November ballot. Subsequent to that decision, the vehicle manufacturer coalition withdrew their challenge and the Secretary of State declared that the right to repair question will appear on the ballot and have the chance to be decided by Massachusetts voters.