BOSTON – Massachusetts voters will decide nine binding statewide ballot questions on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, covering issues from government transparency and taxes to housing, recreational marijuana sales and firearms regulations.
Questions 1 through 8 propose new laws. Question 9 asks whether to keep or repeal the state’s 2024 firearms law. The following guide explains each measure and what a yes or no vote would mean, based on the state’s official voter information guide.
Question 1: Expanding access to public records
The proposed law would make most records held by the Legislature and governor’s office public records under the Massachusetts Public Records Law. The proposal would exempt documents related to the development of public policy and communications between constituents and their legislators, if those communications are reasonably related to a constituent’s request for assistance in obtaining government-provided benefits or services or interacting with a government agency.
- Yes: Apply the public records law to most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office, subject to exemptions.
- No: Leave the public records law unchanged.
Question 2: Collective bargaining for public counsel employees
The proposed law would allow employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) to unionize and bargain collectively. After reaching an agreement, CPCS would have to request funding from the governor.
- Yes: Establish those collective bargaining rights.
- No: Leave existing labor-relations law unchanged.
Question 3: Replacing separate party primaries
The proposed law would eliminate political party primaries for state elections and instead establish a system in which there would be a single, all-party primary, where all the candidates, regardless of political party affiliation, would be listed on the ballot. The two candidates receiving the most votes for each office would advance to the general election, even if both belong to the same party. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor would run together in the primary.
- Yes: Adopt the single-primary, top-two system.
- No: Retain the existing primary system.
Question 4: Election Day voter registration
Beginning Jan. 1, 2028, eligible voters could register or update their address at their polling place on Election Day. They would need proof of residency and to sign a written oath. Those without residency documentation could cast provisional ballots, subject to deadlines for supplying proof of residency.
- Yes: Allow Election Day registration and address updates.
- No: Leave registration rules unchanged.
Question 5: State revenue limits and taxpayer refunds
The proposed law would change the limit on how much revenue the state can collect in a given year. Collections would be capped at the previous year’s net revenue, increased by Massachusetts’ average wage and salary growth over the preceding three years.
Revenue above that limit would be refunded to taxpayers the following year. Revenue from the surtax on incomes above $1 million would count toward the calculation. The changes would take effect July 1, 2027.
- Yes: Adopt the revised revenue limit and refund formula.
- No: Make no change in the law relative to state revenue collection.
Question 6: Funding conservation and outdoor recreation
The proposed law would create a Nature for All Fund for projects involving land conservation, drinking water, waterways, farms, forests, parks, trails, and lands and natural resources of indigenous cultural significance.
Subject to legislative appropriation, the fund would receive half of the state taxes collected from the sale and use of sporting goods, recreational vehicles and golf courses during its first year, increasing to 100% of the state taxes collected on the aforementioned sales and uses after July 1, 2028. The sales tax revenue received by the fund would exclude sales tax revenue transferred to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority State and Local Contribution Fund and the School Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund.
The measure would establish a 15-member Nature for All Board appointed by the governor and take effect July 1, 2027.
- Yes: Create the fund and dedicate the specified existing tax revenue to conservation.
- No: Leave those tax allocations unchanged and create no new fund.
Question 7: Allowing homes on smaller residential lots
The proposed law would allow single-family homes to be constructed in a residentially zoned area as long as the lot on which it is to be built is at least 5,000 square feet, has 50 feet of land bordering the street, and has access to public water and sewer services.
Municipalities could retain reasonable regulations governing matters such as height, distance from neighboring buildings, parking requirements, and whether the residences can be rented out on a short-term basis.
- Yes: Allow single-family homes to be built on lots of 5,000 square feet or more in residential areas, subject to reasonable local regulations.
- No: Would make no change to the law relative to building single family homes.
Question 8: Ending recreational marijuana retail sales
This proposed law would repeal the laws authorizing, regulating and taxing recreational marijuana retail sales, effective Jan. 1, 2028.
The proposed law would continue to allow adults 21 years of age and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana including up to 5 grams in the form of concentrate and to gift or transfer up to one ounce of marijuana including up to five grams in the form of concentrate to another person aged 21 or older. For adults 21 and older, possession of more than one ounce but no more than two ounces would carry a $100 civil fine and forfeiture of the marijuana. Medical marijuana would remain regulated by the Cannabis Control Commission. Recreational marijuana businesses could seek expedited approval to become medical dispensaries and/or sell their remaining inventory of adult recreational marijuana to medical marijuana dispensaries.
- Yes: End the legal recreational retail market and change possession rules and penalties.
- No: Retain the existing marijuana laws.
Question 9: Keeping or repealing the 2024 firearms law
This referendum asks voters whether to keep or repeal a 2024 law that expanded Massachusetts’ firearms regulations.
The law imposes penalties for possessing, making or transferring untraceable “ghost guns,” including 3D-printed firearms, and requires serial numbers on most firearms and certain unfinished frames and receivers. It expands the definition of machine guns to include devices such as bump stocks and Glock switches and revises rules governing assault-style weapons.
The law allows school administrators and licensed health care providers to seek court orders requiring people who pose a danger to themselves or others to surrender their firearms. It also changes licensing requirements, sets a minimum age of 21 to own semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, and requires training and testing for new applicants for licenses to carry or firearm identification cards. It prohibits carrying firearms in government buildings, polling locations and schools, with certain exceptions.
- Yes: Keep the 2024 law expanding firearms regulations.
- No: Repeal the 2024 firearms law.
