Massachusetts election: ballot questions

[redbird]

Massachusetts has nine ballot questions this year. ProgressiveMass has posted a quick list of recommendations for all nine questions: https://www.progressivemass.com/2026ballot/. I agree with them on the ones I already had an opinion about. Question 3 would replace the current system of political party primaries with a "jungle primary," in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of primary affiliation, run against each other in the general election. I had already decided to vote NO on this one, because I've lived in a state which had those, and I didn't like it.

Comments

[lauradi7dw]

Thanks for the opinion about #3. I can see arguments for each side, but personal experience is helpful.

[starlady]

As a a Californian, I am begging everyone in MA to vote against instituting a jungle primary. It has been way more trouble than it's worth and has actually, imo, done the exact opposite of its stated aim (increasing the range of views available to voters in the general).

[redbird]

The first time I heard of those was in California, and the quick summary I saw was that Californians were choosing between two women Democrats for a senate seat.

The other thing is that under the current system, Massachusetts has six choices for Senate next month: a Democrat and a Republican, chosen in party primaries, and four independents, who got on the ballot by collecting petition signatures. (Two of those four are affiliated with parties--one small far-right group, and one Marxist-Leninist group.) Realistically, it's going to be either the Democrat (almost certainly, in Massachusetts this year) or the Republican, not any of the independents, but there's certainly a wide range of views there.