From starter homes to gun laws: Meet the campaigns behind the nine ballot questions

Voters trying to understand a crowded November ballot can talk directly with campaigns on both sides of all nine statewide questions at a free open house Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6 to 8 p.m. at the Arthur J. Clark Government Center.

The Waltham Democratic City Committee is hosting the “Ballot Questions Open House” in the auditorium of the government center at 119 School St. It is open to the public.

The committee invited groups for and against each question. Tables for each group will be set up around the auditorium so voters can move between them, ask questions and compare the arguments.

The goal is to help voters “learn about the questions, discerning between the opposing stances, thus making them informed voters,” the committee said in its announcement.

Tying a record set in 1994, the Nov. 3 state election ballot has nine binding statewide questions, according to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.

The questions cover public records, union rights for Committee for Public Counsel Services staff, all-party primaries, Election Day voter registration, reform of the tax cap, conservation funding, starter homes, recreational marijuana sales and repeal of a gun law.

Eight of the questions are proposed laws that reached the ballot by initiative petition. The ninth question asks voters whether to keep a law the Legislature passed in July 2024. 

The state’s “Information for Voters” booklet has the full text of each question and arguments for and against it. It is available on the Secretary of State’s website.