Category Archives: Massachusetts

If you are a registered voter in Boston and you have not participated in early voting or by mail-in ballot, please make time on Tuesday, November 3rd to get to the polls. If you are a first time voter, new to the area or cannot remember where to vote, I’ve got you covered.

Click here to learn where to vote in Boston on November 3rd

In addition to voting for your candidate, Massachusetts has two state-wide ballot initiatives that you will be asked to vote for in this election.

Massachusetts Question 1, “Right to Repair Law” Vehicle Data Access Requirement Initiative

A “yes” vote supports requiring manufacturers that sell vehicles with telematics systems in Massachusetts to equip them with a standardized open data platform beginning with model year 2022 that vehicle owners and independent repair facilities may access to retrieve mechanical data and run diagnostics through a mobile-based application.

A “no” vote opposes requiring vehicles beginning with model year 2022 to be equipped with a standardized open data platform that vehicle owners and independent repair facilities may access to retrieve mechanical data and run diagnostics through a mobile-based application, thereby maintaining that vehicle owners and independent repair facilities may access mechanical and diagnostic data through a personal computer.

You have to flip your ballot over to read and vote on Question 2.

Massachusetts Question 2, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative

A “yes” vote supports enacting ranked-choice voting (RCV) for primary and general elections for state executive officials, state legislators, federal congressional and senate seats, and certain county offices beginning in 2022.

A “no” vote opposes changing the existing plurality voting system to ranked-choice voting for primary and general elections for state executive officials, state legislators, federal congressional and senate seats, and county offices.

For what it is worth, I plan on voting YES for both Question 1 and 2, but regardless of whether we agree or not, I’d like to encourage everyone to make sure they vote.

I have voted in every Presidential election since I’ve turned 18 years old but this year I participated in early voting for the first time. I have to compliment Mayor Marty Walsh, The Boston Red Sox and all the volunteers at Fenway Park for how they managed early voting last weekend. According to Boston’s public radio station, WBUR-FM, 4,000 people voted there.

I wanted to vote early and the opportunity to do this at Fenway Park was just too tempting. Early voting was available at Fenway Park last Saturday and Sunday and turnout was through the roof. When I arrived at Fenway Park just prior to the polls opening, the line nearly wrapped around the entire ballpark. I was unsure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to vote in less than 1 hour despite the hundreds of people queuing.

There is a common saying in Boston that “Fenway is where I pray”, and I did although this time my prayers were not focused on the Red Sox. My prayer went something like this, “I hope Donald Trump loses by historic proportions and the Republican party loses seats in the US House of Representatives as well as their control of the US Senate. Lastly, I prayed Americans will not look away after November 3rd and will remain engaged to hold our politicians accountable for their actions, because elections matter.“

For more information about early voting in Massachusetts, which runs from October 17 through October 30th visit my earlier post, Early voting in MA starts October 17, 2020.

Make sure you speak to your friends and family and remind them to vote.