“Yes” on 1 or more results for the 2024 ballot questions in Massachusetts

When the clock struck 4 a.m. Wednesday, four of the five ballot questions for Massachusetts had been called by the Associated Press.

On Question 1, voters chose to give the state auditor the authority to audit the state legislature.

On Question 2, voters said “yes” to eliminating the MCAS exam as a standard graduation requirement for Massachusetts Institute of Technology students.

On Question 4, voters chose to keep psychedelic substances illegal across the state.

On Question 5, voters decided against increasing the state's tipping fee.

The race on Question 3, which will decide whether rideshare drivers at companies like Uber and Lyft can unionize, was trending toward a “yes” vote but had not yet been called.

Question 1

Massachusetts voters on Tuesday strongly demanded more transparency in the state's notoriously opaque legislative process. With more than half the votes counted, the campaign to allow the state auditor to audit the Legislature was in first place with 71% of the vote late Tuesday night.

Question 1 gives the State Auditor – currently Diana DiZoglio – the opportunity to review state legislation. The auditor has the ability to audit any other government entity, but the legislature has refused to be audited. Attorney General Andrea Campbell ruled last year that under current law, DiZoglio cannot audit the Legislature without his consent. So DiZoglio set out to change the law here, and she succeeded.

A former state legislator herself, DiZoglio championed the issue when she ran for comptroller. She addressed her supporters Tuesday night and told them that where they come together, there is power.

“The power to demand access, transparency, justice and accountability from our government,” she said. “The power to know how our tax dollars are being spent by those we elect to represent us. The power to ensure that the sun shines in every hall of state government.”

State lawmakers have argued that allowing her to conduct an audit without the Legislature's approval would violate the separation of powers because the auditor is an executive branch official.

It looks like voters weren't too worried about it. But even after this ballot question passes, experts say this issue could still end up in court.

Professor Jeremy Paul of Northeastern University School of Law said Tuesday night that the state auditor wants to go far beyond just auditing the books and examine the Legislature's internal deliberations, such as how it decided who should serve on certain committees should.

“And the concern I have about this — and ultimately I think it's going to end up in court — is that if you put an independent official over the Legislature, they're going to be looking over his shoulder. “If I do something the auditor doesn’t like, he’ll suddenly come at me with a massive document request and stop me from doing my job.”

Question 2

The campaign behind Ballot Question 2 to eliminate the tenth grade MCAS exam as a graduation requirement was approved by voters early Wednesday morning. Massachusetts is now one of the few states without a uniform graduation standard.

Deb McCarthy, vice president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, spoke to supporters Tuesday evening ahead of the union's election victory.

“We are determined to defend our victory and we will not allow anyone to take it away from us. The people have spoken and we will be united and defend the winning question two.”

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page says the victory is thanks to the union's members, volunteers and its promotional efforts.

“Remember where it started last summer and then collected an unprecedented number of signatures, 130,000 in the fall, another 40,000 in the spring. Incredible, incredible show of support. And now we see it in the way people vote.”

The change means school districts across the state can now set their own graduation criteria.

Page says the measure will take effect immediately. This means passing the MCAS will not be a graduation requirement for high school students this spring.

Question 3

Question 3 would allow rideshare drivers at companies like Uber and Lyft to form unions and advocate for better wages and working conditions. Several unions, such as Local 32BJ, support the measure. Some opponents say this could increase travel costs. This measure would not apply to other gig workers like DoorDash and InstaCart.

Question 4

The campaign behind Ballot Question 4 to legalize psychedelic substances suffered a defeat Tuesday night, but the Associated Press has not yet decided the race.

“We spoke to tens of thousands of voters in Massachusetts and found broad agreement that natural psychedelics should be more accessible to those who cannot find relief from traditional medications and therapies,” Aayush Bajpai of the Yes on 4 campaign wrote in Tuesday an explanation. “We have made tremendously important progress on this issue of psychedelic therapy and will continue to fight to find new paths for everyone struggling with their mental health.”

Imani Turnbull Brown said she hopes that no matter how other efforts progress, leaders of the psychedelics movement will consider factors such as racial history and culture.

“We continue to do what we want to do, which is education, harm reduction and all those things for marginalized groups,” she said. “We just want to make sure people are informed.”

Question 5

Opponents of a statewide ballot measure to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts have declared victory. With more than 70% of the votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for the “no” side at 12:41 a.m. Wednesday.

The proposal would have gradually increased the minimum wage of tipped workers in the Commonwealth from the current $6.75 an hour to the regular minimum wage of $15. With the “no” vote, the state’s tipped wage remains at $6.75 an hour.

“We keep power in the hands of individual servers and bartenders who work tirelessly every day to serve guests across the Commonwealth to the best of their ability,” Nancy Caswell, treasurer of Massachusetts Restaurants United, said in a statement.

Steven Rosario, who has worked in the service industry for half a decade, advocated for a “yes” vote. Despite the defeat, he says their fight is not over.

“I mean, let’s try again,” Rosario said. “We're not giving up. Even if it’s been 10 or 20 years, we’re still going to try, and it doesn’t stop there.”

The measure faced strong opposition from restaurants who argued that raising the minimum wage could hurt businesses and lead to closures.

Saru Jayaraman is co-founder and president of One Fair Wage, which organized the Yes on 5 campaign. She said even though the measure failed, she was proud of her group's work to raise awareness about tipped workers being paid below the minimum wage.

“What this campaign has done, regardless of the outcome tonight, is that it has actually heightened the issue so that so many people in Massachusetts know that there is a wage that is below the minimum wage,” she said. “The opposition, as always, poured millions of dollars into spreading misinformation, but it actually kind of helped us because in many ways it was millions of dollars of free advertising to inform the people of Massachusetts that there was this problem gives.”

Previous reporting by Meghan Smith of GBH News was used in this story.