(3-minute read)
Graphic by the Town of Reading.
The State Election is today, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm at the Reading Memorial High School Field House (62 Oakland Road), and residents who haven’t yet voted still have time to get there. Anyone who wants a quick guide at the booth can print the Town Clerk’s Reading Voter Checklist ahead of time.
Dropping off a mail-in ballot
Mail-in ballots should no longer go through USPS, since there isn’t time left for one to arrive before the polls close. Drop them in the white box at Town Hall instead, or hand them directly to the Town Clerk’s office window.
The ballot has two sheets
This year’s ballot spans two sheets, printed front and back, for four sides total. Candidate races, from U.S. Senator down to District Attorney, fill one side, while the rest carries the nine statewide questions and Reading’s two local questions on the override and the Community Preservation Act surcharge. Precincts 1, 7, and 8 get one more: a stipend reform question. Flip both sheets before turning yours in.
That matters most for mail voters. Every side needs to be in the return envelope; skip a page, and any vote on it, candidate or question, won’t count.
Th candidates
The state primary was settled on September 1; the November ballot includes U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Governor’s Councillor, State Senator, State Representative, Register of Probate, and District Attorney. Our State Races page has the full candidate list and a sample ballot available from the Town Clerk’s Office.
What’s on the ballot: nine statewide questions
Question 1 would open most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office to the state’s public records law, with exemptions for policy development and certain constituent communications.
Question 2 would let Committee for Public Counsel Services employees, the state’s public defender agency, form a union and bargain collectively.
Question 3 would swap separate party primaries for a single all-party primary in most state and federal races, advancing the top two finishers regardless of party.
Question 4 would let voters register or update their registration at the polls on Election Day, rather than ten days ahead.
Question 5 would change how the state’s annual cap on tax revenue is calculated, basing it on last year’s actual revenue rather than last year’s limit, and folding in the surtax on income above $1M.
Question 6 would fund a new conservation account for parks, trails, and outdoor recreation, financed by redirecting existing sales tax revenue from sporting goods, recreational vehicles, and golf courses, without a new tax.
Question 7 would stop cities and towns from blocking single-family homes on residential lots of at least 5,000 square feet with public sewer and water access, while leaving setbacks, height, and other local rules intact.
Question 8 would repeal the laws legalizing and taxing retail recreational marijuana sales, while keeping the medical marijuana program and limited personal possession legal.
Question 9 asks whether to keep the state’s 2024 gun law overhaul, in effect since that October; a yes vote keeps the law, and a no vote repeals it.
A yes vote enacts Questions 1 through 8; Question 9 runs the other way, so a no vote is what repeals the existing law.
Local questions
Reading voters will also decide two local questions. Question 10 is a $6.5M operational override tied to the FY28 budget. Question 11 is a proposed 1% Community Preservation Act surcharge to fund conservation, recreation, historic preservation, and affordable housing projects. Precincts 1, 7, and 8 will also vote on Question 12 on stipend reform.
Where to find more information
The Reading Observer has published full breakdowns of each statewide ballot question, along with coverage of the local override and CPA questions and state and federal races. Residents with questions about registration, early voting, or mail ballots can contact the Town Clerk’s office, visit the Town Clerk’s election webpage, or reach the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division at 617-727-2828.
