Sudbury Voters Will Decide On 10 Ballot Questions

When Sudbury voters mark their November ballots, they will decide on 10 ballot questions—the nine statewide questions plus one submitted for the 13^th Middlesex District ballot on legislative stipends.

The ballots are expected to run two pages front and back to accommodate the questions. Election officials have noted that lines at the polls on Election Day may run long as voters consider those questions in the voting booth, and have suggested voters may want to vote either by mail or during early in-person voting days to avoid any delays.

The red Information for Voters booklet sent to every household by the Secretary of State lists each ballot question, explains what yes and no votes mean, and lists pro and con arguments for each question. That information is also available on the Secretary’s website here and in the League of Women Voters online voter’s guide, www.vote411.org. The “red book” includes a page at the very end to list your choices and take to the polls as a reminder.

The nine statewide ballot questions are:

·         Question 1 Expand the public records laws

·         Question 2 Unionize public defenders

·         Question 3 Abolish party primaries and establish all-candidate primary election

·         Question 4 Allow Election Day voter registration

·         Question 5 Change the state tax revenue limit and rebate provisions

·         Question 6 Earmark some sales tax revenue for natural resource conservation fund

·         Question 7 Allow single-family homes on smaller lots

·         Question 8 Prohibit sale of marijuana for recreational use

·         Question 9 Keep 2024 firearms regulation law

Question 10 on the Sudbury ballot is a non-binding referendum placed on the ballots in eight state representative districts, including the 13^th Middlesex district.

This question asks voters: “Shall the Representative from this District be instructed to vote in favor of legislation or rules to reduce the House Speaker’s and Senate President’s control over state legislators’ stipends (extra pay) and to provide stipends only to legislators who do significant extra work that is transparent and accountable to the public?”

An earlier statewide ballot question on legislative stipends was ruled inappropriate for the ballot by the Supreme Judicial Court.

The non-binding question was placed on the ballots in the eight districts as a continuation of LEAP, the Legislative Effectiveness and Accountability Partnership, which sponsored that earlier ballot question. Volunteers in each district from Act on Mass, a progressive advocacy group, coordinated the current effort.