Is the Massachusetts ballot question system broken? Why lawmakers want to end the "dark period."

In the 2026 election, Massachusetts voters will be asked to vote on nine ballot questions. It's the most since 1992. These questions affect candidates and cannabis. Voter registration and nature conservation. In theory, you get to make or change nine laws and every lawmaker on Beacon Hill wants to change the system.

"Why do you think there's an issue with how we do ballot questions?" WBZ-TV's David Wade asked Sal DiDomenico, assistant majority leader of the Massachusetts State Senate. "There's a lot of folks behind those questions and we want to know who they are," he said.

Ballot question transparency

Sen. DiDomenico (D) was the lead sponsor of Senate legislation to force the groups behind the ballot questions to be more transparent about where they're getting their money. The Senate passed his legislation, 38 to 0. Then the House passed a similar version, 149 to 0.

Both sides want to put an end to what they call the "dark period." Right now, for eight months, starting in January, ballot campaigns don't have to report who's giving them money, until 60 days before the election. Yet, individuals running for office have to file those reports every month.

DiDomenico explained the unanimous Senate vote. "So, you have all these TV commercials, you have all this advertisement, you have all the things that people are watching to try and influence them, so we're just trying to say, 'you know, if you want to spend money on the campaign, it's your right to do that, but the public should know who is spending and how much is coming in.'"

Senate President Karen Spilka (D) and House Speaker Ron Mariano (D) both say deep-pocketed special interest groups have taken over. WBZ went to Spilka's office, tried calling and sent emails, but did not receive a response.

Speaker Mariano sent WBZ a statement saying, "The current process is fundamentally broken" ... "allowing ballot question campaigns to operate in the dark."

Why are there so many ballot questions?

But is there a hidden motivation? Perhaps there's resentment that so much power has shifted to the voters.

Reporter Mike Deehan of Axios Boston has covered the Massachusetts State House for 18 years. Deehan thinks lawmakers do have real concerns about so-called "dark money," but also describes sort of a turf war.

"Of course, they don't like it when so many issues are going before voters and not through them," Deehan said. "They want to be the arbiters of what becomes law. They are lawmakers in Massachusetts."

The man in charge of elections, Secretary of State William Galvin, says the reason there are this many ballot questions is because of lawmakers and their inaction. A special legislative committee reviewed the questions and chose not to get involved.

"Remember, any ballot question that makes it to the ballot has been sent to the Legislature first, to vote on it, or to take some action on it and they failed to do that," explained Galvin.

Republican Senator Peter Durant voted "yes" to making the process more transparent.  "I think it's safe that we can trust the voters, but we do have to give them information, and that's the real crux of the problem."

But Durant was also pretty honest when Wade asked him if there's a lot of inaction at the State House.

"Yeah, I tend to think there's a lot of inaction up here and it's kind of odd for a legislator to say this, but yeah, we need to, we need to take up the issues that are important to the people that we represent, get them done in a timely manner," Durant said.

The House version of this ballot question transparency legislation would also set up a special review board to make recommendations by the end of 2027 if there should be a constitutional amendment to change the way Massachusetts handles ballot questions. Ironically, any type of constitutional amendment would have to be approved by voters, as a ballot question.

The House and Senate will now have to come together for a compromise to turn their respective legislation into law, but it's obvious, that change is coming.