Local people have been involved in a grassroots campaign to get a question on the November ballot dealing with primary elections garnered enough signatures to do just that and recently held a celebration in Boston.
This past fall Will Goldsmith and Ajayi Harris of Coalition for Healthy Democracy along with many others gathered over 100,000 signatures from registered voters in the state to get the All-Party Primary initiative on the ballot, which would eliminate political party primaries for state elections.
“The APP initiative would change how we run Massachusetts primary elections for state-wide and federal congressional offices,” Goldsmith said. “Right now, voters are familiar with the party-split of the ballots in primary elections — one Democrat ballot, one Republican ballot — and the winners of each separate primary face each other in the general election. Under the new proposed system, there would only be a single ballot that all candidates appear on, regardless of party affiliation, and every voter would see that one ballot. The two candidates with the most votes overall would move on to the general election, rather than one from each party.”
Goldsmith got on board with the All-Party Primary ballot question effort after hearing about it from a friend in Boston who was canvassing herself.
“I looked into the initiative and was enthusiastic to get involved once I saw what it was about,” Goldsmith said. “I have always thought that the two-party control over the system has not incentivized voters, especially the 65% of unenrolled voters in Massachusetts. I’d love to get more people, especially younger people, out voting.”
They canvassed all over the local region in places such as Barre, Fitchburg, Holden, Leominster and Townsend, and tirelessly across the entire state. As a result, they were successful in getting the two rounds of signatures required for ballot questions and recently found out that the All-Party Primary proposal will be Question 3 on the ballot.
“We tried a grassroots approach by activating volunteers in different regions to help gather signatures,” Goldsmith said. “I personally canvassed a lot in Fitchburg … [and] on a larger scale we turned in signatures from over 300 of the 351 different cities and towns in Massachusetts, so we were a bit of everywhere.”
The Worcester resident wants to give “a big shoutout” to members of Fitchburg State University Students for a Democratic Society.
“They did a great job of helping us out in early-mid May,” he said of the student-led group that attended the third No Kings rally downtown Fitchburg on March 28, adding that their president Adam Quinlan was at their June 30 turn-in event at the State House, which Goldsmith said, “was an awesome day.”
Coalition for Healthy Democracy Outreach Director Bella Santos, of Woburn, has helped with the election reform project and was part of the team who organized the turn-in event “in honor of the people who helped us gather signatures and tell their community about the ballot initiative.”
“We did a brief rally together with our volunteers in front of the State House, turned in the signatures, and then headed over to Democracy Brewing afterwards for a celebration with food, volunteer shout-outs, and mingling,” she said of the festive affair.
Santos said they have rebranded as the “Yes on 3” campaign now that they have a ballot question number.
Fitchburg Mayor Sam Squailia has officially endorsed their initiative and explained why.
“As an independent mayor representing a Gateway City, I know that real progress comes when all of us have an opportunity to take a seat at the table,” Squailia stated. “I support an election system that rewards diversity of thought, coalition-building, accountability, and broad community support. Voters deserve a process that is more open, more competitive, and more reflective of the people they elect leaders to serve.”
Now that they “surpassed the required signatures by a large margin, securing our place on the ballot in November for Massachusetts voters,” Goldsmith said they are pivoting to voter outreach through the summer and early fall “to ensure people are familiar with and educated on the APP question and can make informed decisions at their polling place.”
“Ballot questions, especially with how many were petitioned for this year, can cause a lot of confusion so now it’s our job to make sure we are talking with people at local levels and answering all of their questions,” he said.
Now that they have been assigned a ballot question number from the state, Goldsmith disclosed that they are “working hard to educate voters so it passes in November,” including addressing “well-meaning questions and concerns.”
“The changes that it will bring could really start Massachusetts in the right direction of dealing with rises like housing, affordability, and transportation that so many of us deal with,” he said of what could happen if the All-Party Primary ballot question is approved at the ballot box. “We have broad support from voters all across the state and I hope we can all come together to really make change.”
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