Massachusetts voters will decide nine statewide ballot questions on November 3, 2026, the most in a single election since 1994. Every one of them reached the ballot through citizen petitions rather than the Legislature. Eight are initiative petitions for new state laws. The ninth is a veto referendum, a vote on whether an existing law stays on the books. This page is the civic record: what each question says, what a yes or no vote does, and how each measure got here. It takes no position on any of them.
Three dates matter before you read another word. The voter registration deadline is Saturday, October 24, 2026, ten days before the election. In-person early voting runs from Saturday, October 17 through Friday, October 30, with hours set by each city and town. Election day is Tuesday, November 3, and polls in most communities are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mail ballot details are at the bottom of this page.
A note on the numbering. The question numbers below reflect the measures certified by the state Elections Division after second-round signatures were verified on July 17, 2026. The descriptions tightly paraphrase the petitions as filed; the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Information for Voters guide, mailed to households in the fall, carries the exact ballot language and the Attorney General’s formal summaries.
Question 1, Public Records for the Legislature and the Governor’s Office
This measure would make records held by the state Legislature and the governor’s office subject to the Massachusetts public records law. Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, the judiciary, and the governor’s office are all exempt from the state’s public records requirements. The petition carves out two exceptions: documents related to the development of policy positions by legislators or the governor, and communications between a legislator’s office and constituents about access to government services.
- A yes vote applies the public records law to the Legislature and the governor’s office, subject to those two exceptions.
- A no vote keeps the current exemptions in place.
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio filed the petition in August 2025 after a prolonged dispute over her authority to audit the Legislature. Sponsors cleared both signature rounds after lawmakers took no action by the May 5, 2026 deadline. The Coalition for Healthy Democracy leads the yes campaign, with support from Governor Maura Healey and DiZoglio; no organized opposition committee had formed as of late August 2026, though Senate President Karen Spilka has criticized the measure’s drafting.
Question 2, Collective Bargaining for Public Defender Agency Employees
This question would permit employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the state agency that provides lawyers to people who cannot afford them, to engage in collective bargaining, and would require CPCS to request funding from the governor for any bargaining agreement within 30 days of signing it. CPCS employs roughly 500 staff attorneys and is one of the few state agencies whose workers lack bargaining rights.
- A yes vote grants CPCS employees collective bargaining rights and sets the 30-day funding request requirement.
- A no vote leaves CPCS employees without collective bargaining rights.
The petition was organized by CPCS employees and union allies, including the Massachusetts Defenders Union, SEIU Local 888, AFT Massachusetts, and the National Association of Government Employees, after years of unsuccessful efforts to win bargaining rights through legislation. The campaign runs under the name Yes on 2: Right to Unionize for Public Defenders. Ballotpedia had located no organized opposition campaign as of August 2026.
Question 3, a Top-Two Primary for State Elections
This measure would replace separate party primaries with a single primary election for offices filled at state elections, including governor, the other constitutional offices, U.S. Senate and House, the state Legislature, district attorney, and sheriff. All candidates would appear on one ballot regardless of party, all registered voters would receive the same ballot, and the two candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election, even if they belong to the same party. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor would run as a joint ticket, and each candidate’s party designation would still appear on the ballot.
- A yes vote creates the single top-two primary for state offices.
- A no vote keeps separate political party primaries.
The Coalition for Healthy Democracy, the same group behind Question 1, sponsored the petition and calls it the All Party State Primaries initiative. Washington, California, and Nebraska use versions of a top-two system. The yes side lists U.S. Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton and former Governor Deval Patrick among its supporters; the no campaign, Voter Rights MA, is backed by both major state parties, Senator Edward Markey, and several large unions.
Question 4, Same-Day Voter Registration
This question would allow eligible residents to register to vote at their polling place on election day. A person would show proof of residency and sign a written oath attesting to citizenship, age, eligibility, and single-location voting, then cast a ballot; the registration would carry forward to future elections. It would not apply to town meetings, and voters could not change party enrollment on the day of a primary. Massachusetts currently requires registration ten days before an election.
- A yes vote permits election day registration at the polls under those conditions.
- A no vote keeps the ten-day advance registration deadline.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin filed the petition with nine other citizens in August 2025 after same-day registration bills repeatedly stalled in the Legislature, and sponsors cleared both signature rounds when lawmakers declined to act. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia offered election day registration as of late 2025. Galvin, the state Democratic committee, and the League of Women Voters support the measure; no organized opposition committee had been located as of August 2026.
Question 5, Recalculating the State Tax Revenue Limit
Massachusetts has capped annual state tax collections since voters approved a limit in 1986; revenue above the cap must be refunded, which has happened twice. This measure would grow the cap each year from the prior year’s actual net collections rather than from the prior year’s limit, in both cases increased by the three-year average growth of state wages and salaries. It would also add revenue from the 4 percent surtax on income over $1 million, adopted by voters in 2022, to the definition of state tax revenue used in the calculation.
- A yes vote bases the annual revenue cap on the prior year’s actual collections and counts millionaire surtax revenue toward the cap.
- A no vote keeps the current formula, which grows the cap from the prior year’s limit and excludes the surtax revenue.
The Massachusetts High Technology Council and Citizens for Limited Taxation sponsored the petition, arguing the existing cap has rarely constrained collections because it grows from a ceiling rather than from actual receipts. Business groups including the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, NFIB, and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts back the yes side. Protect Massachusetts’ Future, a coalition of public sector unions and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, leads the opposition.
Question 6, the Nature for All Fund
This measure would create a dedicated state fund for nature conservation, financed by redirecting existing sales and use tax revenue from sporting goods, recreational vehicles, and golf courses. Half of that revenue would flow to the fund before July 1, 2028, and all of it afterward. A fifteen-member commission would oversee spending. The petition creates no new tax; it reallocates money that would otherwise go to the General Fund.
- A yes vote creates the fund, the revenue dedication, and the oversight commission.
- A no vote leaves the sporting goods tax revenue in the General Fund.
The Nature for Massachusetts coalition, whose members include Mass Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, and the Appalachian Mountain Club, sponsored the petition through its ballot committee, Vote Yes for Water and Nature. Georgia, Texas, and Virginia dedicate similar tax streams to conservation. Sponsors cleared both signature rounds after the Legislature took no action, and no organized opposition had surfaced as of August 2026.
Question 7, Minimum Lot Sizes for Single-Family Homes
This question would require every city and town to allow a single-family home on any residentially zoned lot of at least 5,000 square feet that has at least 50 feet of frontage on a street or public way and access to public water and sewer service. Much of the state is zoned for minimum lots of a half acre to two acres; 5,000 square feet is roughly 0.12 acres. In practice, the measure would override local zoning rules that demand larger lots for single-family construction wherever those three conditions are met.
- A yes vote requires municipalities to permit single-family homes on qualifying 5,000-square-foot lots.
- A no vote leaves minimum lot sizes to local zoning.
Legalize Starter Homes, a housing advocacy campaign, sponsored the petition and cleared both signature rounds after the Legislature passed on it. Supporters include Abundant Housing Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. The Massachusetts Municipal Association testified against the measure, citing local control and water and sewer capacity, though it had not registered a ballot committee as of August 2026.
Question 8, Ending Retail Cannabis Sales
This measure would repeal the laws that allow the sale, regulation, and taxation of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, along with the laws permitting home cultivation. Adults 21 and older could still possess up to one ounce without penalty (with a five-gram limit on concentrate); possession between one and two ounces would carry a civil fine, as would possession of up to two ounces by anyone under 21. The Cannabis Control Commission would regulate medical marijuana only. If approved, Massachusetts would become the first state to unwind a voter-approved legalization law; retail sales have operated here since voters passed Question 4 in 2016.
- A yes vote ends licensed recreational sales and home growing while keeping small-amount possession decriminalized.
- A no vote keeps the current legal retail market and home cultivation rules.
The Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, aligned with the national group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, sponsored the petition and completed both signature rounds after the Legislature declined to adopt it. Stop the Repeal, funded by the Committee to Protect Cannabis Regulation and joined by industry and retail groups, leads the opposition. Our full breakdown of the measure, the industry it would affect, and the arguments on both sides is here: Question 8 and the future of retail cannabis in Massachusetts.
Question 9, the Firearms Law Referendum
Question 9 works differently from the other eight. It is a veto referendum on a law the Legislature already passed: Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, titled An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws (House Bill 4885), which took effect October 2, 2024 and remains in effect pending this vote. The law created a real-time electronic firearm registration system, expanded the state’s 1998 assault weapons ban into a broader ban on assault-style firearms (exempting those registered by August 1, 2024), required a basic safety certificate to obtain a firearm ID card or license to carry, mandated serial numbers and penalized untraceable guns, allowed school administrators and licensed health care providers to petition for extreme risk protection orders, and let courts order firearm surrender with harassment prevention orders.
- A yes vote keeps House Bill 4885 in effect.
- A no vote repeals it.
Note the reversal: the people who petitioned to put this question on the ballot are campaigning for a no vote, because in a Massachusetts veto referendum a no vote repeals the targeted law. The Gun Owners’ Action League announced the referendum drive in August 2024, and its committee, The Civil Rights Coalition, gathered the required 37,287 signatures; Smith & Wesson is that committee’s largest donor to date. Yes for A Safe Massachusetts leads the campaign to uphold the law. Our companion piece walks through the law section by section: What Question 9 would keep or repeal.
Checking Your Registration and Voting by Mail
You can confirm your registration status and polling place through the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s online lookup at sec.state.ma.us, and register or update your address online until the October 24 deadline. Any registered voter may vote by mail without an excuse. The state mails an application to every registered voter before the election; you can also apply online, by mail, or by email or fax. Applications must reach your local election office by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
Return your completed mail ballot by drop box, by mail, or in person at your local election office. For the November state election, a mail ballot counts if it arrives by 8:00 p.m. on election day, or if it is postmarked by November 3 and received by November 6. If you request a mail ballot and change your mind, you may still vote in person as long as your mail ballot has not been accepted. Early voting locations and hours vary by municipality, so check your city or town clerk’s schedule before you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the 2026 Massachusetts election?
The state election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with polls open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in most communities. Registration closes October 24, early voting runs October 17 through 30, and mail ballot applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on October 27.
How many questions are on the ballot?
Nine statewide questions, the most since 1994: eight initiative petitions proposing new laws, plus Question 9, a veto referendum on the 2024 firearms law. Your local ballot may also include regional or municipal questions.
What is a veto referendum?
A veto referendum asks voters whether a law the Legislature already passed should stay in effect. Petitioners gather signatures equal to 1.5 percent of the last gubernatorial vote to force the question onto the ballot. A yes vote upholds the law and a no vote repeals it, so the petitioners are the ones urging a no vote. Question 9 is the first one here since 2022.
How do I vote by mail in Massachusetts?
Every registered voter can vote by mail without an excuse. Return the application the state mails before the election, or apply through the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, so it reaches your local election office by 5:00 p.m. on October 27, 2026. Return the ballot by drop box, mail, or in person; it must arrive by 8:00 p.m. on November 3, or be postmarked by election day and received by November 6.