9 Massachusetts ballot questions: See how residents voted in the 2026 election

Massachusetts voters weighing in. We've been talking about these nine ballot questions. You all got a very big ballot this year. Yeah, let's jump into these now on nine different topics shaping the future of the Bay State. Let's take a look at how things are shaping up when it comes to the polls. Ballot question one, This centers around the state's public records law to include most records held by the legislature in the governor's office. A yes on this, 87%, no coming Coming in at 13. Ballot question two surrounds collective bargaining for committee for public council employees and whether they can unionize. Thank you guys. Question number Sorry, 73% there saying yes. . . Question three looks to eliminate separate . . political party primaries for state elections. . . . That means Democrats, Republicans, . Independents would appear on the same ballot. . . . This one a little closer. . Yes at 38%. . No coming in at 62%. . . All right, question four. . If passed, would mean eligible citizens can register . . . or update their address at the polls on Election Day. . . . So Election Day voter registration so far 69% saying yes. . . We know Secretary of State William Galvin supports that question. Number five has to do with state revenue limit and rebate. If approved, that would change the state's annual revenue limit, basing it on the previous year's collection. Right now, yes at 38 percent and no favorable there at 62 percent. Question six right now. 65% of people so far supporting this, the yes vote, if approved, would create a new fund dedicated to nature conservation in Massachusetts. The Nature for All Fund would receive a portion of state tax revenue from the sale of specific things like sporting goods and recreational vehicles and other things. All right. Let's look at number seven here. This is one that would establish a statewide minimum lot size for new single family homes. Homes built under the proposal would need access to public water and sewer service. That one pretty close, 60% at yes, no coming in at 40, Kerry. Question number eight. This had a lot of campaigns on both sides of it. If approved, it would make major changes to Massachusetts recreational marijuana laws, including repealing laws allowing the sale, regulation, taxation, a lot of revenue coming into the state with the sale of recreational marijuana. So far, 78 percent. A lot of political advertising behind that ballot question. And then finally here, let's go to number nine, firearms regulations. Yes vote here keeps the law in place, including provisions on ghost guns, assault-style weapons, firearm licensing, and extreme risk protection orders. A no vote repeals that law. So we know you had a lot to sort through today, not just the candidates. You are deciding all of those questions. So we want to get some insight into some of these big debated topics right now. To help make sense of those questions, the executive director of Pioneer Institute, Jim Sturgill, joining us live tonight. Jim, thanks for being here. Question one, let's start there, looks to expand the state's public records law to include the legislature and the governor's office. So help us understand how this expands transparency for taxpayers. You know, we're an outlier compared to other states. I mean, if you're in Florida, for example, you can get access to emails that are sent from the governor's office. Same thing for the legislature. It's very hard here. We're known across the country as one of the states that is least transparent. So this would provide access to that. And I would say this is another feather in the cap of the state auditor, Diana DeSoglio. Okay, collective bargaining for employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, public defenders. That is question two. A yes vote would not immediately guarantee workers a raise, but what could follow there? Well, it would give them representation. I think if you take a look at the voting map, it showed that people really do believe that there should be representation for workers in this sector of government. And it's probably an important step forward towards getting access to higher pay. And, Jim, let's jump into question three that could eliminate separate political party primaries for state elections. How would a top two system for the state elections change the game in Massachusetts? So it aims to introduce a lot more competition politically. We don't have a lot of competition politically. A lot of our seats for state representative or Senate even are non-competitive. There aren't opponents. Incumbents continue to be in place. So this is trying to do something on that. What I would say is it doesn't look good when you look at the map. This question has not gotten a positive reception in any community yet that I've looked at on the voting map. I don't think it's going to make it over the threshold. This one was big, the sale of recreational marijuana. That could change if ballot question eight is approved. How could that reshape the legal cannabis industry here in the Commonwealth? A win would reshape it dramatically because it would have removed legalization of marijuana. Again, that is not one that's getting a great reception in the communities that have voted already. All right. The executive director of the Pioneer Institute, Jim Stergios, thanks so much for joining us live on this election. I really appreciate it.