Poll: Massachusetts voters weigh in on ballot questions, transportation, and elections
Voters support Election Day Registration, flip against the income tax ballot question with more information.
Transit-served communities say free transit on Election Day would help with voting.
As voting rights come under attack nationally, a poll of Massachusetts voters released today finds support for making it easier to register and get to the polls on Election Day. Meanwhile, many voters flip from supporting to opposing the ballot question that would lower the state’s income tax when they hear more information about who would benefit most and the consequences for the state budget.
Those are some of the findings of a poll of Massachusetts registered voters released today. The poll was conducted by The MassINC Polling Group and sponsored by Transportation for Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Voter Table. The survey was preceded by a focus group of lower-income voters in Boston and Gateway Cities on transportation and voting issues.
Voter Registration, Free Transit on Election Day
A majority of Massachusetts voters (58%) favor a ballot question allowing Election Day Registration, according to a poll released today. Awareness of the issue is low, with only 34% of voters aware that Massachusetts does not currently allow eligible residents to register on Election Day. Among the 37% of voters who thought Massachusetts already had this policy in place, 73% would vote yes on the ballot question.
A majority (52%) of voters think that making public transit free on Election Day would make it easier for their community to vote. Subgroups that are more likely to be served by transit are even more likely to think it would make a difference. These include non-white voters (72%), current transit riders (66%), Gateway City voters (69%), lower-income voters (62%), and voters who know their polling place is served by public transit (62%).
“We’re seeing massive efforts underway in other states to dismantle voting rights, especially for communities of color,” said Shanique Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Voter Table, “This poll shows the Massachusetts voters want to go another direction, taking common sense steps to make voting easier and more inclusive.”
On the income tax, a fluid situation.
Voters initially favor the ballot question to lower the state’s income tax from 5% to 4% over the next 3 years, but many turn against it when told it would reduce funding for the state budget while sending most of the benefits to the state’s wealthiest residents. On first ask, 66% of voters plan to vote yes on lowering the income tax. After further information that drops to 40%, with 50% planning to vote no.
“Polling on ballot questions can be extremely volatile, with many voters open to changing their minds when given new information,” said Richard Parr, Vice President of The MassINC Polling Group, who conducted the poll. “If the income tax question goes before voters, this polling shows that what voters know about its full effects could have a dramatic impact on the outcome.”
Views of the state’s transportation are dim; voters express support for microtransit
An overwhelming 82% of voters rate the state’s transportation system as being in only fair (44%) or poor (38%) condition. Few respondents see minimal progress at the MBTA, with 43% saying the system is “about the same” as it has been. Roughly equal numbers say it has improved (21%) or gotten worse (19%).
The system condition numbers are worse than those found in surveys of residents conducted in 2024 and 2025. The particularly harsh winter may explain some of the pessimism. In the focus group conducted before the survey, voters from Boston and the Gateway Cities complained about their cities’ efforts to clear snow from roads, sidewalks, and bus stops after winter storms. That group also found that concerns about the pace and quality of construction work dampened enthusiasm for investing more to improve the system. Contributing to this dynamic are continuing concerns about the cost of living, which 22% of voters name as the top issue facing the state, followed by housing costs (18%).
One area where there is majority support for investment is around improving public transit in smaller communities that lack full-fledged bus service and rely instead on on-demand vans and minibuses. Nearly two-thirds of voters (64%) support more state funding for these so-called microtransit services. Rural votes (78%) are particularly supportive of the proposal.
“At a time when money is tight for voters and state government alike, it’s encouraging to see continued support for transit for our rural communities,” said Reggie Ramos, Executive Director of Transportation for Massachusetts. “These programs provide crucial mobility - a lifeline - to some of our least connected residents, many of whom have no other way of getting around.”
About the poll
These results are based on a survey of 800 Massachusetts registered voters, including an oversample of 200 voters living in the original 11 Gateway Cities (Brockton, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Springfield, and Worcester). Voters were contacted using conventional registration-based sampling procedures. Responses were collected from March 12 - 17, 2026, via live telephone interviews and via text message invitations to an online survey. The oversampled cities were weighted separately and then combined in proportion with the rest of the state. Responses were weighted by race, age, and gender, education, political registration and identification, geography, and vote history to reflect known and estimated population parameters for Massachusetts registered voters. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 4.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, inclusive of the design effect. The survey was conducted by The MassINC Polling Group. These questions were sponsored by Transportation for Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Voter Table.