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ballot questions

By adamg - 11/8/22 - 8:55 pm

Associated Press called the governor's race for Maura Healey at 8:02 p.m. She'll be our first openly queer governor and the first woman elected to the post. Read more.

By adamg - 6/14/22 - 10:23 am

The Supreme Judicial Court today ordered the state to eliminate a question from the November ballot that, if passed, would have stripped Uber, Lyft and food-delivery drivers of their protections under state employment laws by making them "independent contractors" - and also shielded ride-share companies from lawsuits. Read more.

By adamg - 10/20/21 - 11:09 am
Postcard says people know if you voted

People in Roslindale and Jamaica Plain report getting post cards from out-of-staters letting them know that whether or not they vote is a matter of public record and, of course, implying that somebody is keeping track. Nothing creepy at all about that, even if it is true one's record of going to the polls (or sending in a ballot) is public. Read more.

By adamg - 9/2/21 - 11:21 am

WGBH reports on the 17 potential 2022 ballot questions that the state Attorney General's office say pass constitutional muster. Read more.

By adamg - 8/15/21 - 12:25 pm

The State House News Service reports one one man's effort to get a question on the 2022 ballot that would return happy hours to Massachusetts after 30 years. We find out Sept. 1 if the proposal passes constitutional muster as judged by the state Attorney General office; if it does, he'll then have to collect signatures to get it on the ballot.

By adamg - 11/20/20 - 9:29 pm

An association of auto manufacturers today filed suit against Massachusetts to block the access to computerized vehicle information that voters just this month decided the companies have to provide. Read more.

By adamg - 9/16/20 - 9:07 am

WBUR explains Question 1 is about access to engine and mechanical data that newer cars store - not location data, despite claims by its opponents, who have put up that ad about how its passage will let sexual predators hunt you down in a deserted parking garage and then lock your car so they can have their way with you.

By adamg - 6/27/20 - 10:28 am

Massachusetts Beverage Business reports Cumberland Farms has abandoned its plans for a ballot question this fall that asks voters to let it install beer and wine coolers in all its stores because it's just too darned busy concentrating on protecting its workers and customers from Covid-19. Read more.

By adamg - 11/26/19 - 12:22 pm

Massachusetts Beverage Business reports that a group representing the state's package stores is suing to block a proposed 2020 referendum that would let convenience-store chains, specifically Cumberland Farms, own as many liquor licenses as they want.

The plaintiffs, led by Sav-Mor Liquors Benjamin Weiner, said AG Maura Healey blew it by approving the measure, in part because it asks voters to do four separate things and the state constitution only allows ballot questions to ask voters to do just one thing at a time.

By adamg - 9/19/19 - 2:31 pm
Councilor Flaherty and former Councilor Chuck Turner

Councilor Flaherty discusses the ballot question as former Councilor Chuck Turner listens.

The City Council yesterday approved a non-binding question on this November's ballot that asks voters whether they would approve formally changing Dudley Square's name to Nubian Square. Read more.

By adamg - 8/9/19 - 11:39 am

The Globe reports that the owners of Cumberland Farms has filed a proposed ballot question that would let chains like, oh, Cumberland Farms, sell liquor at as many stores as it wants.

Under current state law - the result of a compromise between pure packies and supermarket chains - by 2020, companies will be able to hold as many as nine liquor licenses in the state.

By adamg - 11/6/18 - 9:50 pm

With 20% of precincts reporting statewide, Question 3, which would uphold a state law guaranteeing the right of transgender people against discrimination in public places, is passing by a 2-1 margin. In Boston, it is passing by an even higher margin. Read more.

By adamg - 11/6/18 - 4:43 pm
Two kids with pro trans rights signs

It's impossible to read their signs because the rain has wiped away much of the ink, but Mathteacherjedi reports these two kids, Ena and Thomas, were standing at Cummins Highway and Brown Avenue in the downpour this afternoon to show their support for a Yes vote on Question 3 for transgender rights.

The young people will win.

By adamg - 11/1/18 - 9:50 pm

Be a Masshole

Great Massachusetts political ad in 2018 or greatest Massachusetts political ad in 2018? Bonus: Videoed at West Roxbury's Porter Cafe. Language is NSFW and NSFYankeesFans.

By adamg - 10/23/18 - 12:46 pm

If you agree that trans people deserve the same rights as everybody else, and want to show it in these increasingly dark days, you'll vote Yes on Question 3. And if you have time, you might even attend the Rally for Transgender Rights, 1 p.m. on Sunday at the 54th Massachusetts memorial at Boston Common, across from the State House.

By adamg - 9/27/18 - 9:20 am

And want a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision giving corporations free reign in political funding, but are very meh on the nursing-ratio question, WBUR reports.

By adamg - 9/24/18 - 11:00 am

WGBH tries to answer questions about the referendum question that would mandate certain nurse/patients ratios in hospitals.

By adamg - 9/19/18 - 2:03 pm

In an 11-0 vote (councilors Flaherty and Zakim were absent), the city council said today it supports passage of Question 3 on the November ballot, which would enshrine transgender people's rights in places of public accommodation - from restrooms to hospitals. Read more.

By adamg - 6/18/18 - 1:47 pm

The Supreme Judicial Court today barred a ballot question that would have asked voters to increase taxes on people making more than $1 million a year. Read more.

By adamg - 9/12/17 - 12:26 pm

The State House News Service reports a New York group that wasted $15 million trying to convince us to increase the number of charter schools in the November elections has agreed to pay some $427,000 to the state for creating a way for people to hide their donations to the effort. It's the largest such settlement in state history.

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