GBH Daily: Reasons to feel good about voting

☁️Cloudy and warm, with highs around 70. Sunset is at 4:34 p.m.

It’s Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and our reporters will be out across the state talking to voters, following candidates and tracking results as they come in. We’ll be updating our live blog throughout the day with stories from the field. Follow along here. 

If you voted by mail, take a moment to make sure your vote has been accepted if you haven’t already. If you have not yet returned your mail-in ballot, do not put it in the mail today. Instead, find a drop box in your community here or head to your local polling place to cast your vote in person.

And if you’re among the 1.1 million Massachusetts voters who already cast their ballots before Election Day, keep reading for a treat for you from this day in history. But if you still need to cast a ballot, you’re in luck: We have a handy guide with everything you need to know. We’ll keep things local, but know that our friends at NPR have some context as you think about today’s elections around the country and this moment in American history.

Every voter in the state will weigh in on who they want as governor, senator, attorney general, secretary of the commonwealth, auditor and treasurer. Some will also see races for their representatives in Congress and the state legislature, as well as in district attorneys’ offices. GBH’s Sara Hassan has a rundown of all the contested elections here. 

Your guides to the nine statewide ballot questions:

Short on time? We have one-minute videos explaining each ballot question here. 

Question 1: A “Yes” vote would make the state’s public records law apply to the governor’s office and the state Legislature. A “No” vote would keep public records laws as they are.Read more.

Question 2: A “Yes” vote would make it legal for about 800 workers of the Committee for Public Counsel Services to start forming a union if they want to. A “No” vote would keep the law as it is.Read more.

Question 3:  A “Yes” vote would shift most elections in Massachusetts from a party-based primary system to an all-party primary and a top-two general election. A “No” vote would keep elections as they are.Read more.

Question 4: A “Yes” vote would let eligible voters register to vote or change their addresses on Election Day starting in 2028. A “No” vote would keep the law as it is.Read more.

Question 5:  A “Yes” vote would change the math of how Massachusetts gives tax refunds in years where tax collections grow faster than wages. A “No” vote would keep the law as it is.Read more.

Question 6:  A “Yes” vote would create a Nature for All Fund and signal that voters support using tax revenue from recreational gear sales and golf courses to fund nature conservation projects. A “No” vote would not create the fund.Read more.

Question 7:  A “Yes” vote would mean every city and town in Massachusetts would allow people to build single-family homes on lots of at least 5,000 square feet, with additional requirements including water and sewage service. A “No” vote would keep current laws as they are.Read more.

 Question 8:  A “Yes” vote would require recreational cannabis shops, as well as growers, to shut down. A “No” vote would keep the current law in place.Read more.

Question 9:  A “Yes” vote would keep the state’s 2024 gun law on the books. A “No” vote would get rid of it. Read more.

Three reasons to feel good about voting: 

1. Secretary of State Bill Galvin said he wants you to vote because it’s America’s 250th birthday. Think of your ballot as a belated birthday card to our nation.

2. If you’re blind, Massachusetts is one of the most accessible states in the country for voting.

3. The people running and monitoring our elections are your neighbors, friends and coworkers. You can meet some of them here.

From the Curiosity Desk: This day in history

By Edgar B. Herwick, III, host of GBH’s Curiosity Desk

Here in New England, there is no shortage of homegrown Revolutionary-era figures who remain household names today, from John and Abigail Adams to Paul Revere and John Hancock.

One name you don’t hear all that often is Ira Allen — though his older brother Ethan’s legacy remains secure thanks in part to the modern-day furniture and furnishings company that adopted his name.

Ira’s revolutionary activities included authoring pamphlets, political organizing and serving as a leader in his local militia, all undertaken from his home in Vermont.

But wait: Go through those 13 original colonies that banded together to form “a more perfect union.” Vermont was not among them.

As the American Revolutionary era dawned, the area that is Vermont today was largely claimed by either — or both — New York and New Hampshire.

Vermont’s militia, the Green Mountain Boys, would nevertheless be critical to the American cause, perhaps most notably in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. Still, Vermont had no seat at the Continental Congress table.

Just as the 13 colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776, Vermont declared itself a republic, independent of both Great Britain and the newly formed United States, in 1777, though it called itself “New Connecticut” for a few months. Vermont’s constitution, which Ira Allen helped draft, was the first in the North to abolish adult male slavery and to grant voting rights to men regardless of whether they owned property.

After the war, Ira Allen was among the handful of people critical to the resolution of political and territorial disputes that established Vermont’s current borders, and paved the way for its admission to the United States as the 14th state.

In 1790, Ira donated a 50-acre tract of land in Burlington for the establishment of a state university. He also pledged a big chunk of cash that never materialized. Much of that land is now the campus’ historic green. And on this day — Nov. 3, 1791 — the University of Vermont was officially chartered. Only four colleges in New England are older: Harvard, Yale, Brown and Dartmouth.

Of course, this chapter of Vermont history is just a tiny fraction of the overall story of this land.

Native Americans have inhabited the area we today call Vermont for more than 12,000 years. Today, Vermont recognizes four Native American tribes, all of which belong to the Western Abenaki nation: The Elnu Abanaki Tribe, Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation and Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi.