Massachusetts Grant Incarcerated Felons the Right to Vote Amendment (2028)
| Massachusetts Grant Incarcerated Felons the Right to Vote Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 7, 2028 | |
| Topic Voting rights for persons with criminal convictions | |
| Status Cleared for signature gathering | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Grant Incarcerated Felons the Right to Vote Amendment may be on the ballot in Massachusetts as a indirect initiated constitutional amendment on November 7, 2028.
The initiated amendment would remove repeal Article CXX of the Articles of Amendment in the Massachusetts Constitution, thus granting incarcerated felons the right vote.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the ballot measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in Massachusetts
An indirect initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. There are two states – Massachusetts and Mississippi – that allow citizens to initiate indirect constitutional amendments.
While a direct initiated constitutional amendment is placed on the ballot once supporters file the required number of valid signatures, an indirect initiated constitutional amendment is first presented to the state legislature, which has various options depending on the state.
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required for an indirect initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 3% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Massachusetts also has a distribution requirement that requires no more than 25% of the certified signatures on any petition can come from a single county.
If the petition meets the signature requirements, 25% of the Legislature in two joint sessions must approve the amendment to send it to the ballot. The petition may be amended by a 75% vote of the Legislature. Unlike indirect initiated state statutes in Massachusetts, a second round of signatures is not required. The state Legislature also has the power to place an alternative measure alongside the proposed amendment via a simple majority vote.
A simple majority vote is required for voter approval. However, the number of affirmative votes cast for the measure must be greater than 30% of the votes cast in the election.
Stages of the constitutional amendment
The following is the timeline of the initiated amendment:[2]
- August 4, 2025: The Massachusetts Attorney General announced that the amendment had been filed.
- September 3, 2025: The Massachusetts Attorney General announced that the initiative had been cleared and that supporters could begin gathering signatures for the initiative.
External links
See also
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Footnotes
- ↑ Ballot Initiatives Submitted for the 2026 Biennial Statewide Election (proposed laws) and 2028 Biennial Statewide Election (proposed constitutional amendments), "Initiative Petition for a Constitutional Amendment Relative to Voting Rights," accessed August 6, 2025
- ↑ Mass.gov, "Ballot Initiatives Submitted for the 2026 Biennial Statewide Election (proposed laws) and 2028 Biennial Statewide Election (proposed constitutional amendments)," accessed August 6, 2025
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