Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voters made decisions on car repairs, assisted suicide and medical marijuana in the statewide election.
Question 1: Right to Repair Voters approved the “Right to Repair” ballot question, which would give consumers more choices when fixing a car in today's election. According to numbers on boston.com, 85 percent of voters approved the question, with 51 percent of the state reporting at 10:15 p.m. The initiative requires automakers to make computer software codes for repairs more accessible to independent repair shops and car owners by 2015. But in July, state legislators devised a compromise that would give carmakers until 2018 to comply with the new law, according to a Boston Globe report. By approving Question 1, voters trumped that compromise and enacted the “Right to Repair” act as written on the ballot. “Voters sent a clear message to …
Friday, November 2, 2012
The most recent Suffolk University poll suggests that voters are being influenced by a barrage of ads urging them to block Question 2.
A new poll finds that support for the ballot question that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide for the terminally ill has dropped dramatically. According to a Suffolk University poll released Tuesday, 47 percent of voters support the measure and 41 oppose it, in contrast to the 64 percent who supported it six weeks earlier. The 'death with dignity' question seeks to allow terminally ill adults who are expected to live less than six month to take legal drugs prescribed by a doctor. The drop in support could be attributed to the sharp increase in ads seeking to persuade voters to reject the question. Stephen Crawford, spokesman for Dignity 2012, has called the groups behind these ads "out-of-state fringe groups wiling to say anything," …
Find out what your vote on Question 1 will mean.
On Nov. 6, Massachusetts voters will be asked to vote on three questions along with the state and federal political races. Question 1, also known as Right to Repair, is asking voters whether all owners should have access to repair manuals and diagnostic information for their vehicles. "This proposed law would prohibit any motor vehicle manufacturer, starting with model year 2015, from selling or leasing, either directly or through a dealer, a new motor vehicle without allowing the owner to have access to the same diagnostic and repair information made available to the manufacturer’s dealers and in-state authorized repair facilities," the Massachusetts Secretary of State's website says. According to the website, a "yes" vote on Question 1 …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The car owner's group wants the ballot passed in spite of recent compromise legislation.
Even though both sides of the "Rght to Repair" question came together in September to urge voters not to vote on the initiative next month, Southern New England AAA is still pushing the measure. But in light of a compromise bill passed July 31, both sides of the "Right to Repair" debate had begun a campaign to urge voters not to vote on the ballot question next month. "Although it was too late to take this question off the ballot, people can feel confident that the issue has been addressed by the Legislature," Art Kinsman, the spokesman for the Right to Repair Coalition, said at the State House. Under the bill, automakers will be required make available to independent mechanics by 2018 all repair codes and other diagnostic information. …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Votes will be asked in the November election to vote on Question 2, which if passed, would allow physicians to prescribe medicine to end a terminally ill patient's life.
As part of the November election, voters will have a chance to move in favor or against a question regarding medication for terminally ill patients. The proposed law would allow a physician licensed in Massachusetts to prescribe medication, at a terminally ill patient’s request, to end that patient’s life, according to Secretary of State William F. Galvin's website. To qualify, a patient would have to be an adult resident who is determined, medically, to be mentally capable of making and communicating health care decisions; be diagnosed by attending and consulting physicians as having an incurable, irreversible disease that will, within reasonable medical judgment, cause death within six months; and voluntarily expresses a wish to die and …
Friday, September 28, 2012
The governor, during a live chat with Patch, expressed skepticism about the legalization of medical marijuana, though he sympathized with patients in pain.
Governor Deval Patrick said he would likely vote no on Question Three this fall. During a Thursday live chat with Patch, a reader asked Patrick how he would vote on the ballot question and whether the governor was for or against the legalization of cannabis. "I am not too energized on this issue, personally. California's experience has been mixed. I will probably vote against it. I respect the opposing view, though, especially those whose concern is for people in constant pain," wrote the governor in response. Proponents say medical marijuana will help ease the pain and suffering of cancer patients and other eligible residents. Opponents, meanwhile, say the law is a back door to full legalization, and that medical marijuana can be …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A spoof website ignites discussion on both side of the issue.
A group fighting to keep marijuana illegal says that a recent spoof of their website was anything but funny, and took a potshot at its creator. "This is no joke. This whole situation is demonstrative of the problem at hand: who is really behind this initiative to legalize pot as medicine," a writer on mavotenoonquestion3.com shot back after freelance web designer Scott Gacek revealed that he bought the website the group had listed with the Secretary of State William Galvin's office, VoteNoOnQuestion3.org. Galvin's office sent out its guide for voters last week, including information on the three ballot questions, with the second website address listed. But since the anti-pot group never registered the URL, Gacek was able to buy it and set…
Diana
9:26 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
Whine whine whine. But hey, it's your free time. Do with it as you will. more ›