Elections division staff are on turbo mode as they muscle through boxes of signatures that could lead to as many as 12 ballot questions going before voters in 2026.
Staff have been working weekends, mornings and nights to plow through the “incredibly tedious work,” Secretary of State Spokesperson Deb O’Malley said. The elections division has brought in staff from at least four other divisions within the secretary’s office to help out during the day and after hours, she added.
The office received almost 150 boxes of petitions by a Dec. 3 filing deadline, O’Malley said. When going through the petitions, staff have to flip over every page, look at both sides for disqualifying marks and check for local registrars’ signatures. They also sort them by county as needed, and sort out pages with either zero or singular signatures before beginning to count.
When going through that initial process, signatures are divided up into groups that include “allowed” signatures, uncertified signatures, disqualified signatures and county excess, O’Malley said. Only 18,643 signatures are allowed to be counted per county.
“We’ve almost finished the process of cleaning, which is when you’re looking through all the sheets and sorting them,” O’Malley said Monday. She confirmed that the office has started the counting process.
Ballot initiative campaigns had to turn in at least 74,574 signatures to the state elections division by Dec. 3 for certification. The division received signatures from 11 campaigns, 10 of which have self-reported that they have enough signatures to make it over the certification hurdle.
The 10 campaigns include ones that would eliminate political party primaries for state elections in favor of all-party primaries; permit employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services to collectively bargain; permit people to register and vote on Election Day; generate $100 million annually for conservation and restoration via the sporting goods sales tax; subject most records of the Legislature and governor’s office to the public records law; reduce the state’s personal income tax rate from 5% to 4% over three years; “legalize starter homes”; limit state revenue; reform the Legislature’s stipend system; and establish statewide rent control.
The campaign behind a question that would repeal recreational marijuana use filed signatures late in the day on the Dec. 3 deadline, O’Malley said. The campaign has not said how many signatures it delivered.
“We knew from the beginning that there would be a lot,” O’Malley said, referring to the volume of questions and signatures. While she doesn’t think the division will have to extend its process past the first legislative day of the year when ballot initiatives must be turned into the House clerk’s office (Jan. 7), she said she’s not certain yet when the office will complete its counting.
In 2024, seven ballot measures were certified and filed with the House clerk’s office by the first day of the session on Jan. 1.
A measure that would repeal the 2024 gun law is also slated to be on the ballot, after supporters collected enough signatures last year for the referendum to be certified and go before voters in 2026. The Civil Rights Coalition -- the group behind the push to repeal the law -- was created by gun owners who view the reforms as overly restrictive. The law included an expansion of Massachusetts’ “red flag” law, a crackdown on untraceable ghost guns and a ban on firearms in some public places (Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024).
Lawmakers in 2026 will have a chance to address any of the possible 12 petitions, which could eliminate the need for select questions come November. Beacon Hill often chooses to let the voters decide. The Legislature in 2024 determined in late January that there would be a legislative committee to vet ballot questions, though the committee ultimately decided to take no action on the measures.
The Legislature continues to work on its own priorities, including a bill that would reform the Cannabis Control Commission and legal marijuana possession levels. Lawmakers are also advancing bills addressing early literacy instruction, public higher education infrastructure investments, home care worker licensing, data privacy, book bans and cellphone use in schools.
The Legislature also faces pressure to act on several of Gov. Maura Healey’s priorities, which include an environmental bond bill, a research- and education-based “DRIVE Act” and energy affordability legislation.
If the Legislature does not pass a ballot measure as filed by the first Wednesday in May (May 6), petitioners must then collect 12,429 more signatures and file them with local election officials for certification by June 17. After enough signatures are filed, the measure is placed on the ballot for the next statewide general election.
Ella Adams is a State House reporter for the State House News Service and State Affairs Massachusetts. Reach her at ella.adams@statehousenews.com.
