If you're doing your research on ballot questions before mailing in your mail-in or absentee ballot or voting early or on November 5 in person, here are my thoughts and recommendations on the five state-wide ballot questions before Massachusetts voters this year:

In short: Vote YES on all five state ballot questions -- and all six ballot questions including the local ballot question, Question 6!

If you want to know the details, here's what you should know about each of the five state ballot questions this year:

Question 1: Audit the Legislature
Beacon Hill is an embarrassment. It's where nothing happens and good ideas go to die. It's where insider deal-making and even corruption reign. It's the manifestation of all the worst things people say about government. So what can we do? We can start by auditing our state legislature. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and knowledge is power. That's why I'm very excited about this initiative by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio. The legislative leaders will fight this with everything they have, including questioning the constitutionality of it once it passes next month -- which it will. But I believe this is the way we can end The Way Things Are Done on Beacon Hill and usher in a new era: one where great legislators like the ones Somerville sends to represent us are better able to do that without having to negotiate a dysfunctional machine like they do now. So yes, let's definitely audit the legislature for a brighter future!

Question 2: High Standards, Not High Stakes
If a student is able to satisfy all of their school's local requirements for graduation in the state with the best public education system in the country, surely they're deserving of a high school diploma. Except currently there's the additional hurdle of needing to pass the MCAS exam to get that diploma. For students who struggle with standardized tests, it can be a cruel final hurdle. And for what? There's no reason to make this test so high stakes for students. To be clear, no one is talking about doing away with the MCAS. We merely should make sure it doesn't harm students, as this clearly has the potential to do. And if you're hearing people ask what incentive students will have to do well on this test without those high stakes, ask them how is this any different from any of the other times students take the MCAS earlier in school. So let's keep collecting data, but without risking harm of individual students. Vote to scrap the MCAS graduation requirement with a Yes on 2.

Question 3: The Option to Join a Union
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have been trying to pull a fast one on Massachusetts like they did recently in California with Prop 22. Fortunately, a recent settlement with the state Attorney General's office should see an end to those efforts to rewrite our state laws to benefit them and harm their workers. And now voters have the opportunity to empower rideshare employees by authorizing them to form a union with Question 3. Everyone deserves a union, so please stand up for workers and support their right to unionize by approving Question 3.

Question 4: Hope and Healing
Yes, this ballot question was written by "Big Mushroom." No, it's not perfect. But it does recognize the compelling medical science that shows psychedelics like psilocybin ("magic mushrooms") can be an very effective in treating certain illnesses like major depression. If you think this is a bunch of New Age, hippie bunk, these findings come from the wild-eyed radicals at Johns Hopkins Medicine. And even a somewhat-flawed ballot question is better than the status quo. So if you believe in science, you should support this very promising new frontier in health care by voting Yes on 4. 

Question 5: One Fair Wage; Tips on Top
This is the ballot question I've been asked about more than any other, mostly thanks to a well-funded No campaign backed by the restaurant industry. If you're trying to make sense of this, what you need to know is that Massachusetts tipped workers currently have a minimum wage of just $6.75. Now the law does require employers to ensure any tips bring workers up to at least the minimum wage of $15 per hour. But that's not happening in reality. Enter One Fair Wage and the campaign to get tipped workers truly guaranteed at least $15 an hour before any tips. There's a lot of scaremongering out there about restaurants dramatically raising their prices and workers making less if tipping decreases. But the states that already have adopted One Fair Wage clearly show none of these things have happened. As a matter of fact, they show tipped workers have made more under One Fair Wage. Let's block out the noise and do right by tipped workers by getting Question 5 approved.

So those are my takes on the ballot questions before Massachusetts voters this year. Getting this state's voters to say Yes to any ballot question is always a challenge, but I'm optimistic we can get all five of these approved and that they'll all make this a better place to live.