The state’s highest court on Monday rejected a challenge to a ballot question proposing an all-party primary voting format, clearing a major election reform for a statewide vote on Nov. 3.
The court upheld Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s certification of the proposal as eligible under Article 48 of the state Constitution.
“We conclude that the challenged petition does not significantly interfere with the constitutionally protected right to vote or the interrelated right of individuals to seek elected office,” the Supreme Judicial Court ruled. “Further concluding that the initiative petition bears a real and substantial relation to legitimate State interests, we affirm the Attorney General’s certification of the initiative petition and remand the case to the county court for entry of a judgment declaring that the Attorney General’s certification complies with the requirements of art. 48.”
The proposal would replace the current system under which candidates affiliated with a recognized political party -- mainly Democrats and Republicans -- can reach the general election ballot by winning their party’s primary, and candidates not affiliated with a recognized party may gain ballot access by gathering the required number of nomination signatures.
Under the proposed system, a single all-party primary would be held in September in which all candidates would appear on the same primary ballot and all voters, regardless of party registration, would cast votes on that ballot. The two candidates who secure the most votes in the primary election would proceed to the general election, and the others could try to stay alive as write-in candidates.
Plaintiffs in the case unsuccessfully asserted the ballot question contained matters excluded from the initiative process under the constitution and that it was “inconsistent with the freedom of elections” under Article 9 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.
“In November, Massachusetts voters will be the ones who decide whether their elections are run by party insiders or by the people,” Jesse Littlewood, campaign manager for the Coalition for Healthy Democracy, said in a statement. “The political insiders who sued to block this reform lost today. Massachusetts has the least competitive elections in America, and when politicians don’t have to compete, they don’t have to fix what’s broken. All-Party Primaries replace the restrictive, privately controlled party primary system with one open to every voter and every candidate, regardless of affiliation: more candidates, more competition, more real choices. That’s how we get elected officials to prioritize real solutions instead of the same-old politics.”
The coalition’s honorary co-chairs are former Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and former Congressman Joe Kennedy III, a Democrat. Others affiliated with the coalition include former Gov. Deval Patrick, former Treasurer Steve Grossman, State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, Fitchburg Mayor Sam Squailia and former Reps. Lenny Mirra and Mathew Muratore.
The plaintiffs in the case were Martina Jackson, the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s platform chair last year, and Ann Roosevelt, who sits on the Democratic State Committee.
The convening chair of the coalition behind the question is Danielle Allen, who slammed the Democratic Party’s nomination process on her way out of the 2022 race for governor that ended with Democrat Maura Healey coasting through the primary and then defeating Republican Geoff Diehl.
