THE QUESTIONS VOTERS
ARE ASKING.

Every candidate for governor, state legislature, Congress, and other statewide offices appears on one primary ballot. Every voter can vote for any candidate. The top two vote-getters go on to the November election, whatever their party. Party labels stay on the ballot, and parties and political groups can print their endorsements next to a candidate’s name. Read the full explainer.

You will see Question 3 on your November 3, 2026 ballot. A YES vote replaces party-only primaries with one all-candidate ballot open to every voter, with the top two advancing to the general election. A NO vote keeps separate party primaries. Read the official ballot summary and full text.

Because most of our elections are over before you vote. This fall, three out of five state legislative races have only one candidate on the ballot. Massachusetts has ranked dead last in the country for competitive elections five cycles in a row. When politicians never face a serious opponent, they stop listening. Question 3 makes your representative work for your vote.

Everything. Housing, energy bills, schools – the problems that hit your budget run through a Legislature that ranks among the least productive in the country, where most members never face a real opponent. A politician who doesn’t have to compete doesn’t have to deliver. Competition changes the incentives: candidates who have to earn every vote have to show results for every voter.

Yes. Today, a candidate for statewide office needs 15% of the vote at a party convention just to get on the primary ballot, and insiders can knock a challenger out before the public ever votes. Under Question 3, every qualified candidate appears on the same ballot, and the strongest challenger can’t be stopped by a low-turnout party primary. Fresh voices get a fair shot, and voters decide – not insiders.

It should. Unenrolled voters turn out less when they have to pick a party’s ballot to vote in a primary, and they are more likely to vote when they don’t have to. States with all-party primaries see higher primary turnout, including among independents and voters of color. And Question 3 moves the decisive election to November, when the most people vote.

Today, unenrolled voters – nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts voters – must choose a party ballot just to take part in a primary. Many skip that step and lose their say entirely. Under Question 3, you vote in every race, for any candidate, on the same ballot as everyone else.

That is what the record shows. Washington and California, two states with all-party primaries, elect legislatures that look far more like the people they represent. In Massachusetts, people of color are 29% of the population but only 13% of the Legislature, and incumbents who never face a real contest hold their seats for decades. Real competition brings in new leadership.

Yes. In Massachusetts, 72% of voters of color are unenrolled (our analysis of the state voter file), so they are shut out of the primaries that decide most races unless they pick a party’s ballot. Question 3 lets every voter vote in every race. And because more November elections will have two real candidates, no community’s votes can be taken for granted – candidates have to campaign for them. That is why the NAACP New England Area Conference and the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition have endorsed Question 3.

Neither. It helps voters. Today the parties control who gets on the ballot: a candidate for statewide office needs 15% at a party convention just to get on the primary ballot, and most races are settled in a low-turnout party primary before you get a say. Under Question 3, no party controls the ballot. You get more choice — every qualified candidate, every race, on one ballot — and more information, with each candidate’s party and endorsements printed right next to their name. Democratic districts can still elect Democrats and Republican districts can still elect Republicans, but they’ll have to earn it from everyone, not just their party’s base. That is why Question 3 is backed by a former Democratic governor, a former Republican lieutenant governor, and former chairs of both the state Democratic and Republican parties. See who has endorsed Question 3.

No. Strong parties don’t fear voters – they earn them. Under Question 3, parties still organize, still recruit, still endorse, and their endorsements are printed right on the ballot. More competitive November elections are exactly where organizing – canvassing, phone banking, turnout – matters most. That is why Question 3 is backed by a former chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee, and a former chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. See the full list.

It can happen, but it’s rare. Across more than 2,000 top-two elections in California and Washington, a district’s majority party has been shut out of November three times. Massachusetts’s version has two safeguards those states don’t: party endorsements printed on the ballot, so voters can tell candidates apart before they vote, and a write-in option in November.

No. The largest group of Massachusetts voters isn’t either party – it’s the nearly two-thirds who are unenrolled, and they are younger and more diverse than the voters in either party’s primary. In competitive races, unenrolled voters, not the other party’s activists, will be the deciding voices. And every voter still gets one vote per race, same as today.

The Coalition for Healthy Democracy is funded by donors from all walks of life giving small, medium, and large amounts, and every dollar is reported publicly to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. More than 100,000 Massachusetts voters signed the petition to put Question 3 on the ballot. The bigger question is who benefits: every voter, in every race. See our filings at OCPF.

The evidence says no. We commissioned an analysis of 13,400 races in California and Washington before and after all-party primaries. A clear money lead used to win about 9 races in 10; now it wins about 3 in 4. The top fundraiser wins less often, winning didn’t get more expensive, and the largest self-funded campaign ever run under an all-party primary finished third. Massachusetts’s rules are tougher on big money than either state, and none of them change under Question 3. Read the full analysis.

No. A “jungle primary” is Louisiana’s system: every candidate runs in the November election, and if no one gets a majority there’s a runoff in December. Question 3 keeps a primary and a general election. It just puts every candidate on one primary ballot and lets every voter vote. The top two go on to November. Read more about the difference.

No, and it doesn’t stop it. Question 3 and ranked choice voting are compatible, not competing – Alaska pairs an all-party primary with a ranked choice general election. Massachusetts’s constitution doesn’t allow both in one ballot question. The Coalition takes no position on adding RCV later; that choice stays with voters. Read how the two fit together.

No. You do exactly what you do today: pick one candidate per race. The only change is that everyone runs on one ballot and the top two go on to November. No ranking, no math. Massachusetts cities already elect their mayors this way – Boston holds an all-candidate preliminary, and the top two meet in the final.

Yes, and that’s the point. The people who vote in November are a bigger and more diverse group than the voters in any party primary, and sometimes they prefer the runner-up. Under today’s system, a low-turnout primary often settles everything. Under Question 3, the general election always decides.

As a team, from the start. Under Question 3, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run together as a ticket in the primary, and voters choose among the tickets. Today they run separately in party primaries and are paired up afterward. Running as a ticket means voters choose a governing team that has already decided to work together.

Yes. California has used an all-party primary since 2010. Every time California voters have been asked, most say it has been good for their state — at least 59% each time, over 16 years. Support is highest among Democrats, independents, Latino voters, younger voters, and renters. Read the survey.

If you have questions for us, want us to give a presentation in your community, or have media inquiries, you can reach out to us anytime via email: hello@yeson3ma.org