BOSTON — Two statewide ballot questions will join a bevy of state and local races — not to mention a contentious presidential contest — in November's general election.
Massachusetts voters will decide on an update to the "Right to Repair" law and whether to implement ranked-choice voting in almost all state and federal elections.
More than a dozen proposed ballot questions failed to collect enough signatures or were not certified due to conflicts with state law. It appeared at the beginning of the summer there would be at least three ballot questions this fall, but Cumberland Farms dropped its campaign pushing for more food stores to sell beer and wine. The company cited more pressing issues due to the crippling impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a look at the two ballot measures facing voters this fall:
Question 1
A push to update the state's "Right To Repair" law to expand access to vehicle data has drawn a ton of opposing money — as well as what supporters said is fear-mongering rhetoric.
Currently auto manufacturers must provide independent auto repair shops access to the same diagnostic and repair information about a vehicle as the manufacturers' dealers have, but the current law doesn't include telematics, defined by the state as "systems that collect and wirelessly transmit mechanical data to a remote server."
The ballot measure proposes increased accessibility to telematics via a mobile app, allowing vehicle owners and independent repair shops to read more vehicle information and run diagnostics.
The requirement would take effect for vehicles in the model year 2022.
What supporters are saying: Supporters are saying owners should have access to their own vehicle's data and control who can see it. Independent repair shops say they need access to the information to work on newer vehicles.
The Right to Repair Committee has raised more than $9 million in support of the measure, much of it from independent and national repair chains.
What opponents are saying: Opponents are saying the repair shops don't need any more information to work on vehicles. Rather, the additional telematics information would make available information about the vehicle and driver — including real-time location and driving history — open to hacking.
The Coalition for Safe and Secure Data has received more than $25 million in opposition to the question, nearly all of it coming from dealerships and manufacturers who fear business could take a hit if the measure passes.
Question 2
Question 2 would institute ranked-choice voting in all state and federal elections, both state and primary, but not for the presidential election. The change would take effect in 2022.
Ranked-choice voting would allow voters to rank candidates according to their preferences. If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes, they win the election. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes, then the person receiving the fewest first-place votes is eliminated and the second-place votes on those ballots for other candidates are counted as first-place votes. The process continues until someone has greater than 50 percent of the first-place votes.
Ranked-choice voting wouldn't be applicable in races where more than one candidate is to be elected.
What supporters are saying: For supporters of ranked-choice voting, this measure could be hitting the ballots at just the right time. A recent crowded Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat in the 4th Congressional District saw Jake Auchincloss win less than a quarter of the total vote, topping the runner-up by just over 2,000 votes. While it's unknown whether the result would have been different with ranked-choice voting, it's believed several candidates with progressive backings split the vote, boosting the more moderate Auchincloss to a narrow win.
The Ranked Choice Voting 2020 Committee has raised nearly $4 million.
What opponents are saying: An official opposition committee was only recently formed, Commonwealth Magazine reported. A member of the group who in 2018 ran for secretary of state told Commonwealth that most voters are unfamiliar with most candidates, so they would be ranking them absent any real merit or preference.
There has been no money raised as of Sept. 12.
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September 10, 2020 at 10:20PM
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MA 2020 Ballot Questions: Right To Repair, Ranked-Choice Voting - Boston, MA Patch
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