After polls closed Tuesday, the ballot question to implement a ranked choice voting system was not able to gain enough votes to change the status quo
For Immediate Release:
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Boston, Mass. – November 4, 2020 –
The Yes on 2 Campaign has announced that the race to decide whether Massachusetts would implement a system of ranked choice voting did not go in favor of the campaign.
For several years, a small movement of passionate reformers across Massachusetts has been working to bring ranked choice voting to the Commonwealth, eventually getting the measure on the ballot with over 128,000 signatures and growing into a 7,400-strong network of volunteers.
“We came up short in this election, and we are obviously deeply disappointed,” said campaign manager Cara Brown McCormick. “But that’s certainly no reflection of the hard work of the thousands of dedicated volunteers, staff and surrogates of this campaign. Even amidst a global pandemic, we were able to mobilize a movement to strengthen our democracy in a time when it’s needed most. We were attempting to do something historic in Massachusetts and fell short, but the incredible groundswell of support from volunteers and reformers that assembled behind this campaign is reason enough to stay optimistic about the future of our democracy.”
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator Edward Markey, former U.S. Secretary of State and senior U.S. Senator John Kerry, former Democratic Governor Deval Patrick and former Republican Governor Bill Weld, former Republican Lt. Governor Kerry Murphy Healey, Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey, Andrew Yang, 87 members of the Massachusetts legislature, MassVOTE, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters were among the many endorsers of the reform.
If passed, Question 2 would have enacted a system of ranked choice voting used in primary and general elections for statewide offices, state legislative offices and certain county offices beginning in 2022.
The Yes on 2 Campaign – by the numbers:
- 111,268 certified signatures first round from all 351 cities and towns
- 17,512 certified signatures in the 1st electronic signature drive in American history for a ballot initiative
- 7,400 volunteers, representing every community in Massachusetts
- 3,700+ donations from individuals
- 15,600 lawn signs delivered to front porches and front lawns
- 2 Former Governors and 1 Former Lieutenant Governor, 1 Former Treasurer- Governor Deval Patrick, Governor Bill Weld, Lt. Governor Kerry Murphy Healey, Treasurer Steve Grossman
- 2 United States Senators – Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Edward Markey
- 1 Attorney General Maura Healey
- 1 Former United States Secretary of State – Secretary John Kerry
- 6 members of Congress – Representative Katherine Clark, Representative Ayanna Pressley, Representative Joseph Kennedy III, Representative Jim McGovern, Representative Lori Trahan and Representative Seth Moulton
- 87 endorsements in the Massachusetts State House
- 47 local and statewide political committees including the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, the Green-Rainbow Party and Young Democrats of Massachusetts
- More than 40 major advocacy, civil service, union, academic and faith-based groups in Massachusetts were behind Yes on 2, including the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, MassVOTE, Sierra Club, Amplify Latinx, Humanity First, Boston Teachers Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association, SEIU Local 888, SEIU Local 509 and the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts
- 7 newspaper endorsements – The Boston Globe, Berkshire Eagle, The Sun Chronicle, MV Times, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Greenfield Recorder, The Harvard Crimson
- Over 600,000 texts to voters
- 1.3 million campaign dials to voters
Contact: charlie.patterson@yeson2rcv.com, 617-894-6905
About the Yes on 2 Campaign
Yes On 2 is a citizen-led, nonpartisan campaign to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for Massachusetts elections starting in 2022. Ranked Choice Voting is a common-sense reform that gives voters more voice, more choice, more power and more freedom. It will strengthen our democracy by ensuring our leaders are supported by the broadest majority of voters and reflect the true will of the people.
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