All but two Massachusetts ballot questions likely to pass in November, poll finds

By Phil Tenser

AMHERST, Mass. — Nine statewide ballot questions will face all Massachusetts voters this November, and a new poll finds that nearly all of them are likely to pass at this stage.

More than half of the participants in the new UMass Amherst/WCVB poll said they would probably or definitely vote yes on seven of the nine questions.

Poll: Crosstabs | Toplines

The poll is based on responses from 800 registered voters, collected between Aug. 5 and 12. The margin of error for the poll is 4.4%.

The two questions that did not have majority support at this stage involve overturning the legalization of recreational marijuana and allowing employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services to engage in collective bargaining.

Last month, state election officials announced that the questions will appear in this order on the ballots:

• Question 1: Expanding the Public Records Law

• Question 2: Collective Bargaining for CPCS Employees

• Question 3: State Primary Elections

• Question 4: Election Day Registration

• Question 5: State Revenue Limit & Rebate

• Question 6: Natural Resource Conservation Fund

• Question 7: Single Family Homes

• Question 8: Prohibit Retail Sale of Adult Recreational Use Marijuana

• Question 9: Firearms Regulation

  
  

"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.

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.

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.

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