About this site
Who made this, how it was made, and how to tell me if something's wrong.
Who created this, and why
I'm Annie. I live in Massachusetts and I've followed local politics for years. Contact: maballotguide@gmail.com.
I built this because the laws that change people's day-to-day lives the most usually aren't the ones making national headlines. They're the local and state-level questions, like the nine on this year's ballot, that most people never get a plain-English explanation of before they're standing in the voting booth. My goal is to fix that: explain what each question actually does, without telling anyone how to vote.
This site is independently produced. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Massachusetts election officials, the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, or any campaign for or against any question on the ballot.
Methodology: how the summaries were written
Each question's "what a YES vote does" and "what a NO vote does" language is drawn directly from the official ballot summaries and full text published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Background context (who's affected, who supports and opposes each question, and campaign funding figures) was compiled separately from independent, nonpartisan sources (see Sources below), then written in plain language and checked against the official text.
Where a claim describes a legal or procedural change (what the law would actually do), it's stated as fact. Where a claim describes a predicted effect (what supporters or opponents believe will happen as a result), it's attributed to that side rather than stated as guaranteed. A formula change is a fact; how it plays out in future tax collections is a prediction.
AI assistance: I used Claude, an AI system made by Anthropic, to draft copy and write the code. I reviewed, corrected, and approved every page before it went up; nothing here is published straight out of a model. The full process, including what that review actually catches, is on the How it's made page.
Every question page shows a "Last verified" date: the date its content was last checked against the official guide. Given nine questions and a campaign where funding and messaging keep changing, some detail may shift before Election Day; the date tells you how fresh a given page is.
Sources
Official sources (ballot language, official summaries, and any fiscal consequence statement):
Independent research (background, impact analysis, and funding figures, not an official state source):
- Tufts University Center for State Policy Analysis, 2026 Voters' Guide
- Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF): campaign donation and spending filings
Campaign-provided arguments (a campaign's own case for or against a question) are never presented as neutral fact on this site. They're labeled as what supporters or opponents say, not as independent analysis.
Corrections & contact
If you find an error, an outdated figure, or wording that reads as one-sided, tell me: maballotguide@gmail.com. Include which question and what you think is wrong. I check every correction against the official guide and fix it as quickly as I can.