BOSTON —
Massachusetts could vote to change several laws through ballot questions next week, but Election Day is far from the end of the process.
Eight of the record-tying nine statewide ballot questions are “initiative petitions” on new laws. Topics span the workings of government and elections, tax rules and whether to keep retail marijuana.
The ninth question is a referendum about whether to keep the latest update to gun control laws on the books.
Recent polling found that more than three-quarters of Bay State voters support the state’s ballot question process, and that several questions are likely to pass in the midterm election on Nov. 3.
Assuming that’s correct, passage at the polls guarantees more weeks and months of additional work to implement the measures.
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History of the ballot question process
Massachusetts voters approved an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1918, which created the ballot question process. It allows for an initiative petition for a new law or constitutional amendment, and referendum petitions seeking to repeal an existing law.
According to data from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, voters have approved 115 of the 192 ballot questions presented since the process was introduced.
Voters have only previously faced a ballot with nine statewide questions three prior times, in 1994, 1976 and 1972. There’s never been an election with more than nine ballot questions.
How questions get on the ballot
To reach the ballot, the committees backing each ballot question needed to collect and submit at least 74,574 signatures last fall. Then, in lieu of action by the legislature, they had to meet a July 1 deadline to file at least 12,429 additional signatures.
Once they met all the requirements, the questions were organized on the ballot.
“The questions were ordered in a manner intended to maximize space on the ballot, with the length of the question summaries being the primary consideration,” the Elections Division said in a statement.
While ballots across the state will be lengthy, the final number of pages in each community will also depend on the number of offices and candidates on the ballot in that location.
What happens after a question is approved?
While unofficial results will be available within minutes or hours of the polls closing, results may not be certified until 15 days after the election. During that time, before submitting official results to the state, local election officials are required to investigate provisional ballots, count all eligible votes and review write-in votes.
After being certified locally, the results are submitted to the Secretary of State’s office for its approval.
Finally, the results are submitted to the Governor and Governor’s Council for final certification.
At that point, if the effort to repeal the state’s gun law is successful — which requires a majority to vote no on Question 9 — the referendum takes effect upon certification of the election results.
For the other eight initiative petitions for a law, the Secretary of the Commonwealth signs the certification for any that were successful. He also assigned the new law a chapter and section number.
The state Constitution dictates that any voter-approved law would take effect 30 days after the election is certified or at a date specified within the measure itself.
Questions 1, 5 and 6 specify they would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. Questions 3, 4 and 8 would take effect on Jan. 1, 2028. With no alternate dates included, Questions 2 and 7 would take effect after 30 days, if they pass.
But recent history also shows us that passage at the ballot box is not necessarily the end of the story.
After voters approved recreational marijuana a decade ago, lawmakers stepped in to make revisions. Legislators could also conceivably pass a superseding measure or vote to repeal a law, risking political consequences.
Earlier this year, for example, House lawmakers passed a public records bill they said would expand public records and provide a framework for the audit power that voters overwhelmingly approved two years ago. Despite the strong public support, the issue remained a political hot-button and ultimately led to Auditor Diana DiZoglio advocating for Question 1 in this election.
