2020 Massachusetts Question 2

2020 Massachusetts Ranked Choice Voting Initiative

November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)

Initiative Petition for a Law to Implement Ranked-Choice Voting in Elections
OutcomeRejected
Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 1,549,919 45.22%
No 1,877,447 54.78%
Valid votes 3,427,366 93.69%
Invalid or blank votes 230,639 6.31%
Total votes 3,658,005 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 4,812,909 76%

Massachusetts Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative, also known as Question 2, was an initiative at the 2020 Massachusetts general election that would have changed primaries and elections in Massachusetts from plurality voting to ranked-choice voting (RCV) for all Massachusetts statewide offices, state legislative offices, federal congressional offices, and certain other offices beginning in 2022. RCV would not be extended to elections for president, county commissioner, or regional district school committee member. The initiative failed, with 54.8% of voters voting 'No' and 45.2% 'Yes'.[1]

If passed, Massachusetts would have become the second state to adopt ranked-choice voting for state and federal offices, following Maine's passage of Question 5 in 2016 and subsequent passage of Question 1 in June 2018. Other initiatives to enact ranked choice voting in 2020 include the Alaska Ballot Measure 2.[2]

  1. ^ Simón Rios (November 4, 2020). "Voters Say 'No' To Ranked-Choice Voting In Mass". WBUR. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "On election-reform Ballot Measure 2, backers and opponents don't follow party lines". Anchorage Daily News. September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.