{"id":3553,"date":"2026-06-25T13:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3553"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:35:44","slug":"why-we-need-a-ballot-question-to-fix-ballot-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3553","title":{"rendered":"Why we need a ballot question to fix ballot questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span><i>This column is from Trendlines, my business newsletter that covers the forces shaping the economy in Boston and beyond. If you\u2019d like to receive it via email on Mondays and Thursdays, <\/i><i>sign up here<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3551\">Dianna Russini was an NFL \u2018insider.\u2019 Was she also out of bounds?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Hey, Massachusetts, which do you hate more: our do-little Legislature or the proliferation of ballot measures backed by big money from labor unions, business groups, and other special interests?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I\u2019m fed up with both.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, we\u2019re stuck with the Legislature. And for all its flaws, the ballot initiative is a powerful tool for citizens to take action when lawmakers can\u2019t or won\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>But:<\/b> We could trim the number of marginal or potentially divisive proposals reaching the ballot. That would save time, money, and energy, and allow voters, who are often busy with their lives and less informed about policy nuances, to focus on the most important issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The most promising fix: lifting the approval threshold to a two-thirds majority. Under current law, most ballot questions pass with a simple majority, as long as the measure was approved by at least 30 percent of all voters in the election. <\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Setting a higher bar for success would discourage groups from committing money to campaigns that lack good prospects of drawing broad support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about this for several years,\u201d Bob Rivers, executive chair of Eastern Bank, said as he pitched me on the idea for the two-thirds approval minimum. \u201cWe need tougher standards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He prefers that approach over raising the number of signatures required to get on the ballot, another idea that\u2019s been floated along with reining in paid-signature gatherers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>Driving the news:<\/b> It\u2019s been a big year for Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which in 1918 established the process for putting initiatives, referendums, and constitutional amendments in front of voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell\u2019s office certified a record 44 petitions for this year\u2019s ballot. Twelve were on track for a November vote \u2014 until the state\u2019s highest court began ruling on a half-dozen legal challenges, ultimately knocking three high-profile measures off the ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In May, Campbell reversed her decision to certify a ballot question to overhaul stipends for lawmakers after the Supreme Judicial Court advised that the measure was unconstitutional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Then in rulings over the past week, the SJC rejected an initiative to cut the state income tax to 4 percent from 5 percent and another to impose statewide rent increase restrictions on landlords.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3549\">A history of living on hope: Cape Verdeans ready to watch their team surprise the world \u2014 again<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>In the tax cut case, the court said the required summary prepared by Campbell\u2019s office \u2014 which voters would have seen on their ballots \u2014was wrong. In the rent control case, the court said the initiative violated the Constitution by exempting rental units in religious facilities. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>Why it matters:<\/b> The barrage of ballot measures, combined with the SJC rejections, has put Article 48 in a harsh spotlight \u2014 and even sparked conspiracy theories that Campbell intentionally mishandled the propositions because they were largely opposed by fellow Democrats on Beacon Hill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Article 48 hasn\u2019t been revised since 1944, when voters approved changes to how proposed laws and constitutional amendments are presented to voters, including requiring a \u201cfair, concise\u201d summary by the attorney general.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>Quote me:<\/b> Campbell herself has said ballot question certification by the attorney general is a \u201cstupid process founded by some other people\u201d that needs to be \u201crevamped.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The attorney general is authorized to bar Article 48 ballot questions if they involve religion, powers of the courts, appointment of judges, or appropriation of money from the state treasury. Campbell has said her office also should be allowed to weigh whether the measures are constitutional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That proposal and the higher approval promoted by Eastern Bank\u2019s Rivers would attack the ballot question glut from opposite ends. Rivers\u2019 threshold would discourage weak campaigns from launching \u2014 and keep narrowly approved measures from becoming law. Campbell\u2019s would screen out constitutionally doomed ones before they burn millions on signature drives and lawsuits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rivers said citizens would need to lead the push to amend Article 48. It would be politically untenable for the Legislature to initiate that effort because doing so would look like lawmakers trying to shield their own authority from challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cNext year is a quieter year,\u201d he said, without the competing fund-raising distractions of the World Cup, the statewide celebrations of the country\u2019s 250th anniversary, and midterm elections. \u201cIt\u2019s the absolute time to get on it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>Pros and cons:<\/b> While ballot initiatives are a democratic counterweight to the Legislature, their shortcomings are many: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Oversimplification. Complex policy questions may get flattened into yes\/no votes, stripping out the nuance legislatures could otherwise negotiate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Influence of big money. Wealthy corporations, unions, and interest groups can dominate costly signature-gathering and ad campaigns, sidelining grassroots efforts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Poorly informed electorate. Voters often lack sufficient information, especially when several questions are on the ballot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Inflexibility. Initiatives can lock rigid provisions into place, limiting future legislatures\u2019 flexibility. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Contradictory mandates: Voters sometimes approve conflicting measures \u2014 like demanding tax cuts while expanding spending \u2014 without any mechanism to reconcile the resulting fiscal contradictions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span><b>Final thought:<\/b> Article 48 initiatives may be a necessary evil, but the process has to be tougher to get them on the ballot or approved by voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ironically, any change will require a ballot vote to amend the Massachusetts Constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3547\">Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 vs. Erling Haaland: Sizing up the striker showdown when France faces Norway on Friday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;re stuck with the Legislature, and the ballot initiative is a powerful tool. But Massachusetts&#8217; initiative process needs to be tightened up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why we need a ballot question to fix ballot questions - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3553\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why we need a ballot question to fix ballot questions - Boston Relocation Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We&#039;re stuck with the Legislature, and the ballot initiative is a powerful tool. 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