Another year, another round of elections. Massachusetts residents were faced with three different ballot questions, each presenting a genuine issue that the state was hoping resolve. Question 1 referred to nurse staffing in hospitals. If voted yes, ratio limits would be put into place for nurses in Massachusetts, and if voted no, there would be no change. Though not definitely established yet, the general consensus of what that ratio would be is 4 patients for each nurse. But, there are different factors which may alter this ratio, those being patient conditions, anesthesia-care, labor, and critical conditions. 70.38%, of 1,847,037 people voted No on Question 1, while the remaining 26.92% (777,180) voted Yes. As a result of the No vote winning, there will not be any new assignment ratios; in other words all of the existing procedures will stay in place. 

Question 2 related to the definition of corporation and federal constitutional issues. What was being asked was if there should be an advisory commission for amendments of the Constitution concerning political spending. To put this in simpler terms, this question has to do with spending and how much money companies are allowed to contribute to political elections. A “Yes” vote would limit the amount of money donated towards these political campaigns, while a “No” vote would cause the limit to remain the same.  71.35%, (1,853,886) voted yes, while the remaining 28.65% (744,352) voted no. Because people were in favor of the “Yes” vote, changes will start to take effect at the beginning of next year.

Lastly, Question 3 related to LGBT issues in the state, with focus being specifically on discrimination. The vote was to see if the “Senate Bill 2407” would be passed. A “Yes” vote would would prohibit discrimination against someone because of their gender identity in a public place such as stores and restaurants, as stated in “Senate Bill 2407”. A “No” vote on the other hand would repeal the induction of this bill and the limited rights of transgender people would remain unchanged. 67.77% (1,788,574) voted yes, in favor of transgender people obtaining more rights in the state of Massachusetts, while 32.23% voted no. The law will be passed as soon as possible. As the election has wrapped up and policies passed have been beginning to be initiated, we all wait to see how the state reacts.