Massachusetts Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative (2020): Difference between revisions
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The '''Massachusetts Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative''' | The '''Massachusetts Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative''' {{Greener | start =11/3/2020 9:30pm EST | before = is|after = was}} not on the [[Massachusetts 2020 ballot measures|ballot]] in [[Massachusetts]] as an {{issfull}} on [[Massachusetts 2020 ballot measures|November 3, 2020]]. | ||
The ballot measure would | The ballot measure would have enacted a [[top-two primary]] system for certain elections in Massachusetts.<ref name=text>[https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/08/07/19-12.pdf ''Massachusetts Attorney General'', "Initiative 19-12: Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Primary Elections," August 7, 2019]</ref> | ||
A top-two primary is a type of primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. | A top-two primary is a type of primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. | ||
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===Stages of this iniaitive=== | ===Stages of this iniaitive=== | ||
The ballot initiative was filed with the office of [[Maura Healey|Attorney General Maura Healey]] (D) on August 7, 2019.<ref name=text/> | *The ballot initiative was filed with the office of [[Maura Healey|Attorney General Maura Healey]] (D) on August 7, 2019.<ref name=text/> | ||
* The measure was declined approval for signature gathering on September 4, 2019. Massachusetts Attorney General [[Maura Healey]]'s office found that the measure "cannot reasonably be viewed as 'containing a single common purpose and express[ing] a unified public policy.'"<ref>[https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/09/04/declination%20letter%2019-12.pdf ''Mass.gov'', "Declination letter for Initiative 19-12," accessed September 4, 2019]</ref> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{SeeAlsoSBM | {{SeeAlsoSBM | ||
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{{2020 ballot measures}} | {{2020 ballot measures}} | ||
{{Massachusetts}} | {{Massachusetts}}[[Category:Not on the ballot past date statewide ballot measures]] | ||
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Latest revision as of 20:29, 3 February 2026
| Massachusetts Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative was not on the ballot in Massachusetts as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The ballot measure would have enacted a top-two primary system for certain elections in Massachusetts.[1]
A top-two primary is a type of primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election.
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirect initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 3.5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. No more than one-quarter of the verified signatures on any petition can come from a single county. The process for initiated state statutes in Massachusetts is indirect, which means the legislature has a chance to approve initiatives with successful petitions directly without the measure going to the voters. A first round of signatures equal to 3 percent of the votes cast for governor is required to put an initiative before the legislature. A second round of signatures equal to 0.5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last election is required to put the measure on the ballot if the legislature rejects or declines to act on a proposed initiated statute. Signatures for initiated statutes in Massachusetts are collected in two circulation periods. The first period runs from the third Wednesday in September to two weeks prior to the first Wednesday in December, a period of nine weeks. If the proposed law is not adopted by the first Wednesday of May, petitioners then have until the first Wednesday of July (eight weeks) to request additional petition forms and submit the second round of signatures.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures required (first round): 80,239 signatures
- Signatures required (second round): 13,374 signatures
- Deadline (first round): The deadline to submit the first round of signatures to the secretary of state was December 4, 2019. Signatures needed to be submitted to local registrars by November 20, 2019.
- Deadline (second round): The deadline to submit the second round of signatures was July 1, 2020.
If enough signatures are submitted in the first round, the legislature must act on a successful petition by the first Wednesday of May. The measure only goes on the ballot if the legislature does not pass it and if the second round of signatures is successfully collected.
Stages of this iniaitive
- The ballot initiative was filed with the office of Attorney General Maura Healey (D) on August 7, 2019.[1]
- The measure was declined approval for signature gathering on September 4, 2019. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office found that the measure "cannot reasonably be viewed as 'containing a single common purpose and express[ing] a unified public policy.'"[2]
See also
Footnotes
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State of Massachusetts Boston (capital) |
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