State voters are weighing key matchups as the September 1st primary enters its final stretch. Meanwhile, some voters may need to start reading now in order to finish the 88-page voter’s guide for the November ballot. While it's not out yet, early voting is underway. Reporter Sam Drysdale of State House News Service explains what key offices western Massachusetts voters are seeing on their ballots.
Sam Drysdale, SHNS: Yeah, there [are] quite a [few] on the Sept. 1st primary ballot. Depending on their district, western Massachusetts voters can see races for U.S. Senate, everyone will, but certain districts will also get a chance to vote for a U.S. representative. You’ll get a chance at voting for the Governor’s Council, state Senate, state representative, and there are also some county offices, including the Franklin County sheriff’s race to fill a vacancy there.
The secretary of state’s website has a complete list and sample ballots so voters can see exactly what’s on their own ballot ahead of going to the polls. Nonpresidential years usually have lower turnout, but there are plenty of important races for voters to weigh in on this year.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Are campaign strategists looking for trends in early voting data? Does that affect how candidates will spend their money at the last minute?
Yeah, it certainly does. Campaigns are watching who is voting demographically and whether those voters are breaking for a certain candidate, because early voting rewards campaigns with strong organization at the local and precinct level. Once somebody has voted, that voter is no longer persuadable. So, if a campaign sees an opponent taking an early lead, it may need to redirect its last-minute spending toward the smaller pool of voters who haven’t cast a ballot yet.
Let’s look ahead to November. The order of the nine ballot questions as they appear on the ballot is set, and there’s fresh survey data from UMass/WCVB. Was there a particular poll result that caught your attention?
I would say the public records question really jumps out in the poll [where] 84% of voters said they would definitely or probably support making the Legislature and governor’s office subject to the state’s public records law, and just 7% opposed it. That’s striking because transparency has been a contentious issue on Beacon Hill, including the continuing fight over the voter-approved legislative audit. So, there’s a pretty substantial gap between public support for transparency and the Legislature’s ongoing debate over how transparency should work.
When a ballot stretches across multiple pages, as it will in this election, I assume local towns have higher paper costs and will see longer voter lines on Election Day. Is that burden on local officials driving state lawmakers to consider reforming the ballot process?
Yeah, local clerks say they’re facing a real administrative burden, both from the crowded ballot questions creating longer ballots and from expanded voting options. They have to staff early voting, process mail-in ballots, and maintain voting lists, all while preparing for Election Day, which, like you said, will have long voting lines.
The state does reimburse municipalities for these costs, but clerks have questioned whether the current system is efficient. I actually asked Secretary of State William Galvin about this last week, though, and he essentially said local election officials are compensated for their work, they’re reimbursed for the extra cost of printing ballots, and he expects them to continue that work.
When it comes to ballot questions, voters are asked to decide on pretty massive policy changes. Is that true direct democracy at work, or is it special interests bypassing Beacon Hill because the Legislature won’t act?
I think the honest answer is it can be both. The initiative petition process is one of the only ways that Massachusetts voters can put major policy questions directly before the electorate when lawmakers haven’t acted.
I think the sheer volume of questions this year is the manifestation of frustration with inaction on Beacon Hill. These measures still have to clear substantial signature-gathering processes and survive legal review. But whether you consider the driving force behind them to be special interests, which lawmakers who dislike ballot questions tend to do, or voters taking matters into their own hands — that’s up to you.
