BOSTON (AP) - Activists trying to collect the signatures they need to get their questions on the November ballot in Massachusetts can now gather those signatures electronically.
A judgment by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week was agreed to by the four ballot question campaigns and Democratic Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.
The agreement avoids a full court hearing on the resolution.
The deal mirrors a similar ruling by the court that allowed candidates for the U.S. Senate to collect signatures electronically for the Sept. 1 primary.
The court found that requiring candidates to go door-to-door to collect the signatures on paper was unreasonable given the state’s stay-at-home advisory aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus.
The four ballot questions would create a “ranked-choice” voting system in Massachusetts, increase funding for the state’s struggling nursing homes, update the state’s right-to-repair law covering car repairs, and allow food stores to sell beer and wine.
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