FROM OUR PRINTED OCTOBER 2026 EDITION
By Brian Camenker
MassResistance.org
This year voters in Massachusetts will have nine ballot questions before them when they go to the polls on Nov. 3. It’s a fairly complicated list, and can be deceiving. So I’ve done the work for you.
The short answer is: Vote YES on 1,5, and 8 – vote NO on the others. But here’s the longer answer:
Question 1:
Expand the public records law to include the Legislature and the Governor.
Vote: YES
Unbelievably, all municipal, county, and state bodies and officials are subject to the state Public Records Law. But the Legislature and Governor exempted themselves. It’s been unbelievably frustrating for citizens. It’s time for that nonsense to end.
Question 2: Allow collective bargaining for public defenders and their social workers, secretaries, clerical staff, etc.
Vote: NO
Just what we don’t need: Another union extorting the state for money and funding politicians’ campaigns.
Question 3: Eliminate party primaries and instead have a single all-party primary.
Vote: NO
I actually liked this idea when I heard about it. Then I talked to friends in states like California where they’re already having these all-party primaries. They all told me it opens the door to corporate money and NGOs running the state, and keeping good minority-party candidates from seeing any daylight. The current primary system can be improved (bring back closed primaries, for example), but this will only make things worse.
Question 4: Establish same day
voter registration
Vote: HELL NO
This would allow people to just show up to the polls on Election Day, become registered voters, and vote. It’s a voter fraudster’s dream. It gives election officials no time to determine if the person is a citizen, is registered somewhere else also, actually lives in the district, is eligible, etc.
Question 5: Limit the state’s revenue to last year’s level, and rebate any excess back to the taxpayers.
Vote: YES
What a novel idea! It would limit what the state could collect to the previous year’s level plus inflation and the average growth of wages and salaries. Any extra taxes that the state collects would have to be given back. The public sector unions are dead against this – another reason to vote for it.
Question 6: Maintain a natural resource conservation fund from certain sales taxes.
Vote: NO
This would create a fund dedicated to natural resource conservation, to protect outdoor areas and parks. The state taxes from sporting goods, golf courses, and recreational vehicles would be diverted to fund this. It’s a bad idea; the Legislature should just allocate funds as needed. You may recall the voters approved the same type of scheme in 1992: 25% of cigarette taxes would be used to fund non-smoking education programs. Within a few years it became a slush fund – 77% of the money went for non-related things. There was a huge outcry and the Legislature eventually modified the way it worked.
Question 7: Mandate that single-family homes are allowed on 5000 square-foot lots in all cities and towns.
Vote: NO
I want to see more single-family homes as much as the next guy. But this is a terrible way to do it. Cities and towns know what is right for them. The state should not step in and override their zoning. How about just making the state’s role in the permitting process less onerous and time-consuming?
Question 8: Prohibit sale of adult recreational marijuana
Vote: YES
Wouldn’t it be nice to walk down the street and not smell pot all the time? Or businesses not have to worry about their workers’ weird pot-related mental illnesses? Or not have pot dispensaries all over town? This doesn’t go far enough, but it’s a start. The horrible things modern marijuana is doing to society – including the majority of fatal car accidents involving drugs – could fill a book. If you’re a happy dope smoker, I’m sorry. Grow up.
Question 9: Keep the new firearms law
Vote: HELL NO
Massachusetts is experiencing a terrible wave of gun violence. Chapter 135 of the Mass. General Laws, passed in 2024, does nothing to stop it, and in fact makes it worse. It leaves criminals alone and severely punishes law-abiding gun owners with an absurd array of patently unconstitutional regulations and restrictions. This needs to go. And that’s just the first step.
We should have had 10 ballot questions
Massachusetts voters would have had a tenth statewide ballot question—a phased reduction of the state’s personal income-tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent. But the Supreme Judicial Court removed it from the ballot after finding that the official summary for it that the Attorney General had written was misleading. It’s another reason to vote for Michael Walsh for AG! ♦
