Voters seize the ‘say’ in key state battles for housing affordability

Housing affordability is on ballots across the country this fall, and not just in races for state and national office. Voters in California, Florida and Massachusetts will decide direct questions on Nov. 3 about zoning, permitting and property taxes.Early voting doesn’t begin for a couple of weeks in Massachusetts and Florida. Florida requires 60% approval for constitutional amendments. Voting has started in California, where a simple majority wins. Massachusetts has the most interesting hurdle to clear. It needs more than a simple majority to pass. “Yes” votes must also equal at least 30% of all ballots cast in the election. If voters approve, the change would cap minimum lot sizes for single-family homes statewide, the first such ballot questions put to voters in the country. The challenge is making sure voters get to the question. It is the seventh on a nine-question ballot, tying the record for the most statewide questions in Massachusetts history. Housing advocates worry that voters may tire before they reach it or skip a question they don’t understand. “There’s risk of voter fatigue,” Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts, told HousingWire...