A new Boston Globe poll suggests three Massachusetts ballot questions are far less secure than they looked before. Question Three, Question Five and Question Seven are all running close enough to leave the outcome uncertain as voting nears.
That matters now because the midterm elections are closing in, and the contest over the ballot is no longer looking like a formality. In the poll, around 47 percent of respondents backed Question Three and 41 percent opposed it. Question Five drew 40 percent support and 37.6 percent opposition, while Question Seven was almost a dead heat at 41.2 percent in favor and 40.6 percent against.
The numbers cut against the sense that these measures were cruising toward approval. Question Three would replace partisan primaries in Massachusetts with a single all-party primary, with the top two finishers moving on to the general election. Question Five would reduce the maximum tax revenue the state can collect in a year. Question Seven would require cities and towns to allow single-family homes on residential lots of at least 5,000 square feet that have at least 50 feet of frontage and access to public sewer and water services.
Question Seven is the sharpest example of the shift. The most recent poll before the Boston Globe's survey gave it a 44-point advantage, yet this poll found the electorate essentially evenly divided. That is a major change in how the issue is playing, especially because many zoning districts have much larger minimum lot sizes than 5,000 square feet. The difference suggests the fight over housing rules is reaching voters in a way earlier numbers did not capture.
The rest of the ballot picture is still tilted in the other direction. Other questions are expected to pass, including measures on public records, public defenders, same-day voter registration and a nature conservation fund. Democrats are also expected to coast to re-election in most statewide offices, while efforts to repeal marijuana legalization and a landmark gun control law have poor odds. The next hard date is November 3rd, when Nantucket residents can vote at Nantucket High School from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the final verdict on these questions will come from the voters themselves.
