Galvin Anticipates Record-Breaking Number of Ballot Questions in 2026

Ahead of today’s deadline to file ballot question petitions for the 2026 ballot, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin announced that a record-breaking number of questions have already been filed with his Elections Division.

According to Galvin’s office, ten ballot question campaigns have already filed a significant number of petitions, while an eleventh campaign is expected to file this afternoon. Any questions that ultimately qualify for the 2026 ballot will be joined by a referendum question that was already filed and certified late last year, regarding “An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws.”

The highest number of ballot questions ever certified to appear on a state election ballot was nine, in 1972, 1976, and 1994. In recent years, ballots have typically contained between two and four statewide questions per election.

In order to advance to the next step in the process dictated by the Massachusetts Constitution, a ballot question campaign must submit at least 74,574 certified signatures to the Secretary’s office by 5 p.m. today. No more than 18,643 of those signatures are allowed to come from any individual county.

The exact number of signatures certified by the state will not immediately be available. Before signatures can be counted, Elections Division staff is required to review each petition sheet for disqualifying marks and proper certification by local election officials, a process that typically takes several weeks.

Any petitions that are determined to contain a sufficient number of certified signatures will be sent by the Secretary’s office to the Massachusetts Legislature in January. If the Legislature does not pass an initiative through the normal legislative process by May 5, 2026, petitioners can begin collecting the additional 12,429 needed to place the question on the November 3, 2026 State Election ballot.