by Nick Moore
This year’s election in Massachusetts had four
different ballot questions- each containing new legal propositions that many citizens found controversial.
The first question asked citizens were if in favor of establishing more casinos throughout Massachusetts. The second question enabled citizens to vote for or against an increase in the cap of charter schools in Massachusetts to allow up to 12 new charter schools each year. Both questions one and two were voted “no”in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Here are some reasons why this was the outcome.
Question 1: A “yes” vote would allow a second slots parlor to exist in Massachusetts.
Those in favor of this questioned argued that a second slots parlor would bring in a lot of money to the state. The main argument against this question is that it would put another, slots-only casino in Massachusetts even though the first one wasn’t as much of a success as they initially thought. According to The Boston Globe, the people of Massachusetts voted against the establishment of another slots casino as 61% of voters voting “no” on question 1.
Question 2: A “yes” vote would allow the cap of charter schools in Massachusetts to be
raised to allow up to 12 new charter schools each year. The main argument for this question is that charter schools provide students from public schools with poor reputations an alternative schooling option. The argument against question 2 was that these charter schools would take money away from the public schools . Again, according to The Boston Globe, he people of Massachusetts voted against raising the cap of charter schools as 62% of voters voted “no” on question 2.
NAHS senior Andrew Blanchette shared that, although he is too young to vote, he “likes the outcome of these two ballot questions.” He continued, “we don’t need any more casinos and we should give the money to public schools instead of charter schools.”
Independent student Jay Loring said that he “liked the results of the first two questions
from his standpoint.” He later stated that if he had voted “he would have voted no on the first two questions.”
The views of the population of Massachusetts are apparent and were clearly displayed in the outcome of the election.
The First Launch 