The 2024 election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Although voting for the presidency is at the forefront, there are also laws to vote for in each state. Massachusetts has five questions on the ballot this year.

Question 1: Should the auditor oversee the legislature?
The current state auditor is Diana DiZoglio. A state auditor helps the government work more efficiently by overseeing the legislator and conducting different investigations and audits.

If Question 1 passes, auditors will be allowed to continue investigating the state legislature and evaluate some of the activities going on at hand. Some activities, however, are not allowed for the auditors to evaluate. Some activities include votes, and any important legislative functions. Although, if this passes, the legislators will still have the upper hand to decline investigations if they desire to.

Question 2: Eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement
As of now, in order to graduate from a public high school, you need to pass the 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). If Question 2 is passed, the state will remove this rule. It would still be a requirement for students to take 10th grade MCAS. If a tenth grader fails, they will still have to retake the test once more before graduating, but whether or not they graduate will not be determined by if they earn a passing grade. Instead, districts would set their own requirements for graduation.

This shift would give more power to local school districts, town officials and individual communities instead of the state. This would allow for each community to change their graduation requirements based on their district’s beliefs.

However, if Question 2 is passed, it would make Massachusetts one of the only states without a common graduation standard.

Question 3: A union for rideshare drivers
Under the current law, Uber and Lyft drivers are not able to form unions. Question 3 on the ballot would change that and legalize unionization for rideshare drivers.
This approach, sector based bargaining, would allow drivers to band together for better pay and expanded benefits.

The goal of this question is to address the issues for rideshare app drivers such as poor working conditions. The union would increase the cost of rides which would therefore reduce usage. Because of this, some of the benefits from rideshare apps such as the reduced number of drunk drivers and expanded mobility options, would be limited.

Question 4: Legalizing psychedelic drugs
After decades of illegality, Question 4 asks if naturally occurring psychedelics should be legalized. Psychedelics are hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, and ibogaine. While the legalization would permit usage, it would also set clear rules for therapeutic and personal use.

One viewpoint is that since psychedelics are used in medical situations, they are a necessity for some illnesses and scenarios. On the other hand, some individuals are worried that legalizing psychedelics could cause abuse of these drugs and could become a dangerous situation.
If Question 3 is passed, psychedelics will be allowed to be grown, shared, used and offered by licensed professionals.

Question 5: The minimum wage for tipped workers
Currently, workers in the service industry rely on tips as their main source of income as employers are allowed to pay $6.75 an hour provided that tips will make up the rest of the required $15 an hour. These workers are called “tipped employees.”

Question 5 on the ballot would require employers to give their employees the full minimum wage and get rid of the tipped employee minimum. Although, staff can still get tips under Question 5’s rules but if it is passed it helps the restaurants share all the tips with the whole staff.

By eliminating the tipped minimum wage, it would increase all the earnings of the staff. Also by allowing all these tips to be shared with everyone, it will help staff get equalized pay throughout the whole restaurant including front of house and back of house employees.