Election Results: Ranked-Choice Voting Fails; Biden Rolls In MA

MASSACHUSETTS — As much of the country fell asleep still awaiting results in major races — including president — residents here were only waiting on one big question that could change the way they vote in future elections.

Supporters of Question 2, a ranked-choice ballot initiative, conceded well after midnight, saying they came up short. The "No" side was up 55 percent to 45 percent with 81 percent of precincts reporting.

Outside Question 2, there wasn't much suspense despite unprecedented voter turnout in an election set against the backdrop of a pandemic.

The state was called for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden immediately after the polls closed. Biden was up nearly 1 million votes on President Trump with most precincts reporting. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey won his race soon after.

Congressional Democrats had no problem rebuffing Republican challengers, while Democratic Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss won a race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy in the 4th District.

"I'm so grateful that the voters of #MA04 have chosen me as their next Congressman," Auchincloss tweeted. "I promise that I will be a representative for the entire district, that I will always listen, and that together, we will work to rebuild this nation."

A push to expand access to vehicle data was declared successful before 11 p.m. Question 1 was the most expensive in state history, with almost $43 million spent.

"It's your car. You paid for it. You should be able to get it fixed where you want," said Tommy Hickey, the campaign director for the Yes on 1 campaign.

Officials predicted a historic number of voters making their voice heard either by voting in-person — whether early or on Election Day — or through mail-in ballots. Mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day will be counted if they are received by 5 p.m. Friday.

For all the major races, that didn't hold things up.

Biden, who won Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, was never in doubt against Trump. Hillary Clinton topped Trump in the state by almost a million votes in 2016, and a Republican hasn't won in a general election here since 1984.

Markey also had it locked up early against Trump-supporting lawyer Kevin O'Connor. The 74-year-old Malden Democrat had his big election battle in the primary, when he defeated U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy.

Question 2, which is whether to institute ranked-choice voting, would have had significant impact on how elections are decided going forward. Ranked-choice voting would allow candidates to be ranked based on preference; if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, an elimination process would begin.

"We came up short in this election, and we are obviously deeply disappointed," campaign manager Cara Brown McCormick said. "But that's certainly no reflection of the hard work of the thousands of dedicated volunteers, staff and surrogates of this campaign. Even amidst a global pandemic, we were able to mobilize a movement to strengthen our democracy in a time when it's needed most. We were attempting to do something historic in Massachusetts and fell short, but the incredible groundswell of support from volunteers and reformers that assembled behind this campaign is reason enough to stay optimistic about the future of our democracy."

Question 1 is a push to update the state's "Right To Repair" law to expand access to vehicle data. The question has drawn an outsized amount of money — largely from national manufacturers who say passage would expose drivers' personal information — making it the most expensive ballot question in state history. Proponents of Question 1 have accused the other side of fear-mongering, saying passage would level the playing field for independent repair shops by granting more access to telematics data. Click here for more details.

Expanded early and mail-in voting, coupled with a historic presidential race, had state officials expecting a record turnout. Secretary of State William Galvin predicted Monday that 1.3 million people would vote on Election Day, which would push the total number to 3.6 million — about 300,000 more than the 2016 election.

"We've seen a tremendous uptick in interest, even among people and areas of the state where we generally don't see that," Galvin said.

Gov. Charlie Baker was among those who cast a ballot, though not among those who voted for president. The Republican has already said he can't support President Trump, but apparently the same is true for Biden.

As he told reporters Tuesday, "I blanked it."

Material from the State House News Service was used in this report