GREENFIELD — Before going to the polls on Nov. 3, the League of Women Voters of Franklin County made sure voters got to know the nine ballot questions better during a speed dating-style information session.
Thursday’s event, hosted by the league and Greenfield Community College, saw volunteers provide information to the roughly 30 attendees about what it means to vote “yes” or “no,” and the arguments for and against each ballot question. While the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts has taken a stance on some of the questions, Thursday’s event was explicitly nonpartisan and informational only, according to Marie Gauthier, president of the League of Women Voters of Franklin County.
Tables were set up at GCC, acting as stations for all nine questions. Each round gave five minutes for the presenters to share their information and take questions before Gauthier rang cowbells to signal the transition.
This style of voter engagement is something that Gauthier said is not new for the league, which hosted an event called “Candi-dating Night” for voters to get to know candidates for the 2017 municipal elections in Greenfield. She added that it’s a “fun and interactive” way to learn.
“There are a lot of ballot question events, and I just wanted to do something that was more engaging and might get people out,” Gauthier said, noting that the program also helps members of the league learn about the questions.
According to Commonwealth Beacon, this year’s number of ballot questions is nearly record-breaking, as the 1994 election also had nine questions, the most in the state’s history. During that election, five of the nine questions were accepted by voters. If a MassINC Polling Group and CommonWealth Beacon poll from September ends up reflecting the results in November, eight of the nine questions would receive a “yes” vote, while Question 8, the recreational marijuana repeal, would be the single “no.”
The ballot questions will ask voters to tackle a range of themes in legislative accountability and personal liberties. Question 1 seeks to expand public records law to the Legislature and governor’s office. Question 8 asks to repeal recreational marijuana legalization. The format of primary elections is up for change in Question 3, along with tax reform in Question 5.
Gauthier said the hope is that even if attendees didn’t have their minds made up, they would “have the tools to make those decisions” by the end of the night.
The presenters used numerous sources in their research, Gauthier said, including CommonWealth Beacon and the Tufts University Center for State Policy Analysis.
At the tables, some presenters, like Nicola Shipman, used visual aids to help best describe the question they were presenting. Shipman was tasked with Question 7, known as the starter-home question.
Question 7 asks voters if they’d like to relax zoning regulations for single-family homes in areas with public water and sewer, which would streamline the permitting process for homes to be built on smaller lots.
With her posters in hand, one for “yes” and one for “no,” she detailed some of the key arguments for both sides while taking questions from those at the table. Some of the discussion for one group with Shipman was about the state movement toward encouraging creation of accessory dwelling units and if this question impacts those goals, or skepticism about the question’s relevance to western Massachusetts, whose communities are more spread out and with private water and sewer, compared to out east.
One of the voters in attendance, Patricia Stevenson of Shelburne, said she came to the speed-dating event with her mind made up on some of the questions, especially Question 9, which she plans to vote “yes” on. This question seeks to uphold the state’s 2024 gun law, and a “yes” vote would preserve that law, while a “no” vote would repeal it and bring the state back to pre-2024 gun regulations.
“I’m not opposed to people owning a gun, but those assault rifles should be banned as far as I’m concerned,” Stevenson said. “That’s a question I have no problem [with].”
Stevenson expressed her gratitude to the League of Women Voters of Franklin County for hosting the event and educating people.
“I think these ballot questions, the way they’re written, they’re very legal-like and it’s very hard for people to understand,” she said, “so I think having this really helped inform us to be a better voter.”
Those seeking to register to vote, check their voter registration status or access the red booklet from the Secretary of State’s Office detailing each of the nine ballot questions can visit sec.state.ma.us.
