Massachusetts: a state with politics as blue as the jerseys collectively donned every Football Sunday. In the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, it makes sense that the state stayed this way— the House came in entirely blue, Elizabeth Warren scored over 60% of votes for her re-election, and incumbent governor Charlie Baker remains the only red dot in sight (Massachusetts Election Results). With 99% of votes reported, there's little room for change.

These results were predictable. New to the playing field, however, were the three ballot questions posed to voters Tuesday. Inanimate and lacking the charisma— or lack thereof— held by political hopefuls, ballot questions tend to be somewhat overlooked in election coverage. Take a look at the way Massachusetts voted this year, and what those results may mean for state residents.

Let's move backwards: Question 3. Yesterday, the "nation's first statewide vote on anti-discrimination protections for transgender people" was approved by a 67.8% vote (Agorakis, S.). Per a law approved by Congress in July of 2016, approval of Question 3 "adds gender identity to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in places of public accommodation" (2018 Ballot Questions). The significance of this addition is vital; though it applies to Massachusetts only, it sets an important precedent for other states. Precedent is especially important in the midst of debate over bathroom usage; for years, the country has been sharply divided as to the rights that should be afforded to people identifying as transgender when it comes to using gendered bathrooms. Under the law referred to in Question 3, people identifying as transgender are entitled to "access to and full use of [bathrooms] consistent with a person's gender identity" (2018 Ballot Questions). Public fora and professionals are prohibited from impeding this right.

Question 2: the 'Citizens United' measure. The query refers to the highly controversial 2010 Supreme Court case, in which it was held that laws preventing corporations or unions from providing monetary support to political candidates was a violation of those bodies' First Amendment rights. After a 71.4% approval on Question 2, however, a citizens commission will be created to formulate an amendment to the contrary. The appointed 15-person commission, membership in which is available to any citizen resident of Massachusetts, will seek to "limit the influence of money and elections and establish that corporations do not have the same rights as human beings" (2018 Ballot Questions). The latter goal will prove especially difficult in the face of the Citizens United ruling— the committee will have until December 21, 2019, when their first report is due, to reconcile the two concepts.

Finally, Question 1: deemed by some to be "the most expensive and volatile of the three 2018 ballot measures in Massachusetts," and the only measure that garnered a decision in the negative. In fact, the vote was a landslide: 71.4% of Massachusetts residents who came out voted 'no.' Indeed, Question 1 is unique in that it has no immediate 'blue' alignment, making it difficult for voters to automatically reconcile. Additionally, complaints that the language of the question's wording was confusing have surfaced. A 'yes' vote gives support to a law that would have limited the number of patients that could be overseen by each nurse at one time in Massachusetts hospitals; a 'no' vote is synonymous with non-support for the law, and nurse-to-patient ratios by extent. Proponents of the proposed law argue that limiting the number of patient assignments held by each nurse allows nurses to afford a greater degree of time and care to each patient. Critics, however, argue that the dynamic isn't that simple. They see Question 1 as "blunt instrument for a complex problem;" Harvard health policy professor Nancy Kane, for instance, worries that "it doesn't take into consideration special circumstances," including nurse absences and understaffing (DeCosta-Klipa, N.). On that note, it is likely that community hospitals serving high proportions of MassHealth and Medicare patients would feel a disproportionately large impact if Question 1 were to pass. The call of nursing unions for greater rights in the workplace has been heard; evidently, however, Question 1 will not be what brings them to the negotiation table.

Bibliography:

"2018 Ballot Questions." Elections: 2018 Ballot Questions, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele18/ballot_questions_18/....

Agorakis, Stavros. "Live Election Results: Ballot Initiatives." Vox.com, Vox, 7 Nov. 2018, www.vox.com/a/midterms-2018/ballot-initiatives.

DeCosta-Klipa, Nik. "What Independent Experts Are Saying about Question 1." Boston.com, The Boston Globe, 5 Nov. 2018, www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/11/05/massachuse....

"Massachusetts Election Results." The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/election....