Nine ballot measures will be on the ballot during the 2026 Massachusetts elections. Eleven measures were initially certified in January 2026, in addition to one veto referendum. However, three measures were subsequently struck from the ballot due to legal challenges.
The Massachusetts General Court had until May 2026 to either implement the proposals, reach a compromise with organizers, or do nothing, allowing organizers to gather more signatures to officially place the measures on the ballot. The state legislature did not choose to take action on any of the measures, allowing organizers to move forward with signature gathering. Twenty-five further measures were not certified. Legislative leaders have raised concerns about the number of ballot measures, which they claim are often crafted by special interest groups. A poll by the CommonWealth Beacon in September 2026 found that 76% of respondents described the increased number of ballot measures as a "good thing" while only 15% believed the state legislature should decide the issues rather than voters.
Topics of certified questions include a limit on lot size requirements to allow for single-family homes to be built on more plots of land, implementation of same-day voter registration, a proposal to repeal Massachusetts's law allowing for recreational marijuana use, a proposal to replace party primaries with a single all-party primary that has the top two finishers advance to the general election, a proposal to place gubernatorial and legislative records under the state's public records law, creation of a new land conservation fund to be funded by sales tax revenue, a new limit to how much the state can collect in tax revenue, and a proposal to allow Committee for Public Counsel Services (a board which oversees the state's public defender system) employees to form a union. One veto referendum, a proposal to repeal new gun control laws passed in 2024, will be on the ballot in 2026.
A measure on legislative stipend reform to reduce extra pay received by lawmakers was initially certified, but an advisory opinion by the Supreme Judicial Court led to the measure being struck from the ballot. Another measure, which would have reduced the state income tax from 5% to 4%, was also struck down by the Supreme Judicial Court, which found that the ballot summary crafted by the attorney general was misleading. In addition, a proposal to re-implement rent control was also blocked by the Supreme Judicial Court.
Electoral system In Massachusetts, a constitutional amendment or proposed law can be placed on the ballot by popular petition. If a petition collects 74,574 signatures, it will be considered by the General Court. If the General Court does not pass the proposal as is or reach a compromise with organizers, the petitioners can have their proposal placed on the ballot at the next general election if they collect 12,429 more signatures. In addition, a law passed by the General Court can be put to a veto referendum, in which the law must be passed by popular vote.
The first round of signatures needed to be submitted by December 3, 2025. The legislature had until May 5, 2026 to decide whether to implement the proposals. Organizers had until June 17 to gather the second round of signatures to place the measures on the ballot.
Measures on the ballot QuestionStatus 1Initiative Petition for a Law to Improve Access to Public RecordsFull text of measureProponent website On ballot2Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Labor Relations Policies for Committee for Public Counsel Services EmployeesFull text of measureProponent website On ballot3Initiative Petition for a Law to Implement All-Party State PrimariesFull text of measureProponent websiteOpponent website On ballot4Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Election Day RegistrationFull text of measureProponent website On ballot5Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Limiting State Tax Collection Growth and Returning Surpluses to TaxpayersFull text of measureProponent websiteOpponent website On ballot6Initiative Petition for a Law to Protect Water & NatureFull text of measureProponent website On ballot7Initiative Petition for a Law to Allow Single-Family Homes on Small Lots in Areas with Adequate InfrastructureFull text of measureProponent website On ballot8Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Regulating MarijuanaFull text of measureProponent websiteOpponent website On ballot9Referendum on an Existing Law on an Act Modernizing Firearm LawsFull text of lawKeep law websiteRepeal law website On ballot
Question 1 A measure to make legislative and gubernatorial records fall under the state's public records law will be on the ballot. Massachusetts is the only state in which gubernatorial, legislative, and judicial records are not publicly accessible. The measure would contain some exceptions for sensitive information. Multiple attempts to pass similar laws through the legislature were met with failure in the past, leading organizers to go through the ballot initiative process instead.
The petition was filed in August 2025 by the Coalition for Healthy Democracy, a group led by former gubernatorial candidate Danielle Allen, alongside its all-party primaries petition (Question 3). Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat and the state auditor, endorsed the measure soon after and by late 2025 had taken over leading the campaign through her own committee, the Committee for Transparency and Democracy. DiZoglio donated $150,000 from her campaign account to the effort in October 2025.
The measure comes two years after the passage of 2024 Massachusetts Question 1, another measure pushed by DiZoglio which gave her the ability to audit the state legislature. Since the passage of the 2024 measure, DiZoglio has been engaged in a protracted conflict with the legislature, which has resisted her calls for an audit, citing concerns about constitutional separation of powers.
The Massachusetts Senate challenged the proposed measure, along with another proposal regarding legislative stipend reform, at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. In April 2026, the court declined to make a ruling on the public records proposal, preferring to wait to see whether the new law is passed by voters. Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorYes (for the proposed law)No (against the proposed law)UndecidedCommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling GroupSeptember 14–22, 2026800 (LV)± 4.0%63%14%23%UMass Amherst/WCVB-TVAugust 5–12, 2026800 (RV)± 4.4%84%7%10%Suffolk University/The Boston GlobeNovember 19–23, 2025500 (RV)± 4.4%84%7%9%
Question 2
A measure to allow a labor union to be formed for the employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the government organization which employs the state's public defenders, will be on the ballot. The push comes in the aftermath of a strike by bar advocates, who are outside lawyers hired by the state as independent contractors to augment the public defenders which are direct employees of the CPCS. Bar advocates in Massachusetts are paid much less than comparable attorneys in neighboring states. The strike led to many defendants being released since there were not enough lawyers to provide counsel. The proposal, which is backed by existing labor unions, would allow CPCS employees to form a union through the same mechanisms that other state employees can. Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorYes (for the proposed law)No (against the proposed law)UndecidedCommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling GroupSeptember 14–22, 2026800 (LV)± 4.0%48%25%27%UMass Amherst/WCVB-TVAugust 5–12, 2026800 (RV)± 4.4%45%24%18%
Question 3 A measure to introduce all-party primaries, or top-two primaries, will be on the ballot. The measure would implement a system similar to the one used in states like Washington, California and others, where all candidates participate on the same primary ballot, regardless of party, with the top two candidates advancing to the general election. Primary elections in Massachusetts are often uncontested, with proponents of the measure claiming that it could lead to more competition and higher turnout for primaries.
The proposal has been met with opposition from state party leadership of both major parties. The Democratic State Committee also voted to formally oppose the measure, and two Democratic Party members initiated a lawsuit attempting to stop the measure from appearing on the ballot, which the Supreme Judicial Court rejected on June 22, 2026. On the other hand, some Republicans worry that the system may lead to general elections in which one Democrat faces off against another Democrat, with no Republican making it to the general election. The Massachusetts Republican Party opposes the measure. While the party itself opposes the proposal, some prominent individual Democrats have expressed support for it, including state auditor Diana DiZoglio, former governor Deval Patrick, and former state treasurer Steve Grossman.
The petition was filed in August 2025 by the Coalition for Healthy Democracy, whose convening chair is Danielle Allen, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2022. Its "Yes on 3" campaign raised over $2 million in 2025, much of which came from large donations from people with connections to private equity or investment firms. DiZoglio, Patrick, former Republican lieutenant governor Kerry Healey, and former congressman Joe Kennedy III are involved in the coalition. Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorYes (for the proposed law)No (against the proposed law)UndecidedCommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling GroupSeptember 14–22, 2026800 (LV)± 4.0%43%36%21%University of New HampshireSeptember 17–21, 2026564 (LV)± 4.1%41%39%19%UMass Amherst/WCVB-TVAugust 5–12, 2026800 (RV)± 4.4%51%32%17%
Question 4 A measure to introduce same-day voter registration will be on the ballot. The measure would scrap the existing registration deadline which requires voters in Massachusetts to register at least 10 days before election day. One of the main proponents of the measure is longtime Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin. Galvin is the elected official in charge of administering elections in the state. Galvin decided to gather signatures to place the measure directly on the ballot after the legislature refused to take up the issue over multiple legislative sessions.
Some local election officials have expressed worry about the extra work which may be required on election days. However, Galvin contends that same-day voter registration will actually reduce the burden on local officials by removing the need for unregistered voters to cast provisional ballots, which require officials to verify the eligibility of said voters after they have cast their ballots. Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorYes (for the proposed law)No (against the proposed law)UndecidedCommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling GroupSeptember 14–22, 2026800 (LV)± 4.0%53%33%14%University of New HampshireSeptember 17–21, 2026564 (LV)± 4.1%59%38%4%UMass Amherst/WCVB-TVAugust 5–12, 2026800 (RV)± 4.4%69%22%5%Suffolk University/The Boston GlobeNovember 19–23, 2025500 (RV)± 4.4%63.4%31.8%4.8%
Question 5 A measure to introduce new limits on how much tax revenue the state can collect while increasing tax rebates will be on the ballot. The measure would change the existing calculation which sets a limit to the amount of revenue the state can collect in a year to cut taxes. It would also include the new revenue gathered from a 2022 ballot measure which introduced a new tax on income over $1,000,000 in the calculation. The measure is backed by a coalition of business and trade groups.