Campaigns backing at least 10 of the 44 filed ballot question proposals believe they’re still in the running to make it onto the 2026 ballot, while the majority of petitions have died before the election year even begins. Supporters of rent control, improving public records access, reducing the income tax, starter home construction and all-party primaries are among proposals still in the mix. Most of the campaigns still in the running paid people to gather the tens of thousands of signatures needed to keep proposals in the pipeline. Initiative petition campaigns had about two months under state law to gather at least 74, 574 signatures and submit them at the local level by Wednesday for certification a checkpoint that historically thins the field. No more than 25%, or 18, 643, of the total required signatures may come from any one county. The locally-certified signatures then must be filed with the secretary of state by Dec. 3. A record 44 proposals were certified as ballot eligible by the attorney general this year, constituting 40 proposed laws and four constitutional amendments. Voters will not get to weigh in on the majority of those proposals, including ones that would have enabled incarcerated people with felony convictions to vote; allowed some employees otherwise ineligible for Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits to choose to pay into the program; and enabled voters to initiate recall elections to remove elected officials from office. Campaigns supporting the measures told the News Service that they did not collect enough signatures by last week’s deadline. Others that didn’t hit the mark include proposals to cap residential and commercial property tax increases; require a person to be present in all Massachusetts-registered autonomous vehicles when they transport passengers, services or goods; and to require companies that design, manufacture or install digital, internet or wireless technology or services to make design choices that reduce electromagnetic radiation exposure. Campaigns backing questions that would require Massachusetts voters to provide photo identification, require that statewide voter registration rolls are made publicly accessible, and repeal the legalization of recreational marijuana could not confirm to the News Service how many signatures they submitted to local clerks’ offices.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/23/10-questions-claim-they-cleared-signature-hurdle/
10 questions claim they cleared signature hurdle
