Signatures Submitted for MA RCV Initiative

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

On November 20th, Supporters of Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) Submitted Signatures for a Massachusetts Initiative to use RCV in All Federal and State Elections.

In Massachusetts, the number of Signatures Required to Qualify an Indirect Initiated State Statute for the Ballot is Equal to 3.5% of the Votes Cast for Governor in the most Recent Gubernatorial Election. No More than One-Quarter of the Verified Signatures on any Petition can come from a Single County.

The Process for Initiated State Statutes in Massachusetts is Indirect, which means the Legislature has a Chance to Approve Initiatives with Successful Petitions Directly without the Measure going to the Voters.

- A First Round of Signatures Equal to 3% of the Votes Cast for Governor is Required to put an Initiative before the Legislature.

- A Second Round of Signatures Equal to 0.5% of the Votes Cast for Governor in the Last Election is Required to put the Measure on the Ballot if the Legislature Rejects or Declines to act on a Proposed Initiated Statute.

Signatures for Initiated Statutes in Massachusetts are Collected in Two Circulation Periods.

- The First Period runs from the Third Wednesday in September to Two Weeks Prior to the First Wednesday in December, a Period of Nine Weeks.

- If the Proposed Law is Not Adopted by the First Wednesday of May, Petitioners then have until the First Wednesday of July, Eight Weeks, to Request Additional Petition Forms and Submit the Second Round of Signatures.

The Requirements to get an Initiated State Statute Certified for the 2020 Ballot:

- Deadline First Round: The Deadline to Submit the First Round of Signatures, 80,239, to the Secretary of State is December 4th, 2019. Signatures needed to be Submitted to Local Registrars by November 20th, 2019.

- Deadline Second Round: The Deadline to Submit the Second Round of Signatures, 13,374, is July 1st, 2020.

If Enough Signatures are Submitted in the First Round, the Legislature must Act on a Successful Petition by the First Wednesday of May 2020. The Measure Only goes on the Ballot if the Legislature does Not Pass it and if the Second Round of Signatures is Successfully Collected.










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