On the rainy day of November 6th, thousands of voters performed their civic duty and voted in this year’s midterm. Alongside numerous positional elections, there were three additional questions on Massachusetts’ voters’ ballots.

In Massachusetts, question 1 was voted no, question 2 was voted yes, and question 3 was voted yes.

Question 1 was a proposed law that would limit the number of patients a nurse could be assigned to. The proposed law would require a hospital and other care facilities to comply with the patient assignment limits without reducing its level of nursing, service, or maintenance. A yes vote would limit the patients a nurse could have.

Question 2 was another proposed law regarding whether or not companies should have the same Constitutional rights as people. The law, if passed, would create a commission to consider and recommend amendments to the U.S. that would establish that corporations do not have the rights as people.

Question 3 revolved around gender identity. The proposed law would add gender identity to the protected classes, a list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in public. Some protected classes already in place are race, sex, religion, national origin, and many others.

Triton math teacher Benjamin Colby voted in this year’s midterm. When asked if he was surprised by the results, Colby said, “No. I kind of expected it. I saw a ton of signs saying vote no on the first [question], and the other two I kind of figured would happen the way they did.”

When looking at Triton’s voting by district, reported by WBUR News, the three districts voted pretty similarly.

Question 1 (Nurse ratio):

Rowley: 2,458 NO, 731 YES         (77.08% NO)

Salisbury: 2,862 NO, 952 YES      (75.04% NO)

Newbury: 2,989 NO, 957 YES      (75.75% NO)

District: 8,309 NO, 2640 YES       (75.89% NO)

Question 2 (Create Citizens Commission):

Rowley: 1,068 NO, 2,071 YES     (65.98% YES)

Salisbury: 1,196 NO, 2,549 YES  (68.06% YES)

Newbury: 1,221 NO, 2,791 YES  (69.57% YES)

District: 3,845 NO, 7,411 YES     (68.02% YES)

Question 3 (Keeping gender identity rights):

Rowley: 1,288 NO, 1,888 YES     (59.45% YES)

Salisbury: 1,485 NO, 2,316 YES  (60.93% YES)

Newbury: 1,319 NO, 2,729 YES  (67.42% YES)

District: 4,092 NO, 6,933 YES     (62.89% YES)

“Young people need to get out and vote. They need to make their voices heard,” Will Karantonis, a former Triton senior, said about why young people should get out and vote. “With the political landscape as divided as it is right now, it’s urgent in a way that we go and make every possible effort to get our votes cast and every voter, younger and older, matter,” Karantonis said.

“I’m not really political… but I voted,” Maggie Oliver, a current Triton senior, also voted in this year’s midterm election. “If you don’t like something and you have the power to change it, you probably should try something,” she commented.

Justin Flodman, another former Triton senior, felt strongly about this year’s midterm. “Question 1 was important to me, but questions two and three both impact many groups of people, so I think all of the questions are important,” he remarked. This was Justin’s first time voting and he said he feels “like it is my civic duty and responsibility to participate in our democracy by voting.”

The 18-29 age bracket has had the lowest voting turnout since at least 1984, according to The United States Elections Project. Every vote counts, especially in local and state elections. Societal and political change starts with a minority that builds over time. If political movements are to happen, everyone needs to be involved, even the millennials and young age brackets.