Photo: WBZ News Radio / Jay Willett
BOSTON (WBZ News Radio) – Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin says the large amount of ballot questions coming to the voting booth this election will cost the state an estimated additional $5 million.
“Democracy is not cheap,” said Galvin. “We are going to pay the price whatever it is.”
With up to 12 ballot initiatives that could make it onto the ballot, the ballot itself will likely be multiple pages long. And it could complicate the way ballots are counted.
Right now, the power is in the Legislature’s hands. They could pass some of the proposed ballot measures into law before they make it to the voters.
“It would be better for some of these questions if they could be solved, to be solved. But that is up to the Legislature to decide that,” Galvin said.
The wide variety of topics to decide include rent control, reduced income taxes, recreational marijuana, same day voter registration, and even public records access.
"What's the common theme, if there is one? I think it's that there's been no action by the Legislature on a wide variety of topics," Galvin said. "I'm not criticizing this as much as I'm saying, if you want to look at why it's here, people have decided that, apparently, whatever the cost of getting the signature is to get on the ballot, it's probably a more efficient use of their resources."
The Legislature has until May to make a move. If not, the questions need yet another 12,000 signatures before making it to the voter's hands.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.