Election 2024: Your guide to Massachusetts’ November election

Massachusetts residents will have the chance to vote on key federal, statewide and legislative races during the Nov. 5 national election.

That includes the race for the White House between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.

Two members of the Bay State’s all-Democratic U.S. House delegation are facing Republican challengers.

Most of the lawmakers in Massachusetts’ 200-member state Legislature are expected to coast to reelection on Election Day.

Still, 54 lawmakers in the state House and 14 lawmakers in the state Senate will face opposition at the polls.

There also are contests for the Governor’s Council, a little-understood panel that traces its roots to the Colonial era and plays a key role in state government such as confirming judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments.

Voters also will have their say on five ballot questions on issues ranging from whether to legalize psychedelics to raising the minimum wage for tipped workers.

How to register to vote — and vote

Here are some of the key dates to remember if you want to vote in the general election:

• Deadline for presidential election voter registration: Oct. 26
• Deadline for presidential election vote-by-mail application: Oct. 29
• General election date: Nov. 5. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

You can confirm you’re already registered to vote by going to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website. Enter your name, date of birth, and ZIP code to find out if your voting status is active.

If you have a signature on file with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, you can register online, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

You can also pre-register, update your address, update your name and change your political party designation.

Voter registration forms can be printed at this link. The form must be filled out and signed, then mailed to a prospective voter’s local election office and postmarked by the voter registration deadline.

Those registering to vote in Massachusetts for the first time should include a copy of identification with the applicant’s name and address. If a copy is not included, one must be presented the first time voting.

To find a local polling location, voters can enter their address on the Secretary of Commonwealth’s website. This will show their precinct number, ward number and the address of where they can vote.

The Big Races

Below we’ve highlighted the key races and questions that Massachusetts voters will decide this fall.

We’ve also included links to MassLive’s top coverage of this year’s candidates and ballot measures to help you make informed decisions.

The race for the White House

At the top of the ticket, Harris faces Trump in a historic contest.

And that’s true no matter which candidate you support.

If Trump, making his third White House bid, comes out on top, he will be the first president in American history to win an election as the nation’s chief executive after being convicted of a crime, and while still facing pending legal matters.

If Harris wins, she will become the first woman and first woman of color to occupy the Oval Office.

The race was dramatically reshaped after President Joe Biden scuttled his reelection bid in July after a faltering debate performance against Trump weeks before.

Trump survived an attempt on his life during a rally in western Pennsylvania, just days before formally accepting the GOP’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris, who rocketed to the top of the ticket after Biden’s exit, formally accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Trump’s running-mate is U.S. Sen J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Key coverage from the race:

Trump injured but ‘fine’ after assassination attempt; shooter, 1 other dead

U.S. Sen. JD Vance chosen as Trump’s vice-presidential running mate

President Joe Biden drops out of the 2024 race, throws support behind VP Kamala Harris

In Biden’s speech, a challenge. Are Americans up to it? | John L. Micek

Who is Kamala Harris? 5 things to know about the vice president and White House candidate

Kamala Harris bets on everyman Tim Walz to win. Mass. Dems weigh in | John L. Micek

In Boston, Dem Veep candidate Tim Walz tells firefighters we ‘have your back’

After Tim Walz addresses firefighters union, JD Vance makes his pitch in Boston

Trump-Harris 2024: What Mass. pols are watching for in Tuesday’s debate | John L. Micek

The U.S. Senate race

Two-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Cambridge faces Republican John Deaton, a cryptocurrency lawyer from Swansea, who’s making his first bid for federal office.

Deaton, buoyed by a wave of cash from Big Tech, beat out two other candidates in the Sept. 3 primary election to win the Republican nomination.

Still, Deaton will face an uphill battle against Warren, a deeply entrenched and well-funded pol, who’s running for reelection in heavily Democratic Massachusetts.

Democrats have attacked Deaton’s residency — he’s a Rhode Island transplant — and his ties to the cryptocurrency industry. Deaton has painted Warren as out-of-touch with Bay State voters.

Polling in the race has been scant. But a June UMass/WCVB-TV poll highlighted Deaton’s challenge.

A third (36%) of its Republican and unaffiliated respondents said they didn’t know which of the three GOP hopefuls to support. None of the GOP hopefuls polled above 19%.

Warren led Deaton 47%-24% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up in the same poll.

Key coverage from the race:

Who is John Deaton, the long-shot Republican trying to unseat Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren?

Crypto is spending big money in the GOP race for US Senate in Mass. Here’s why | John L. Micek

Mass. Primary 2024: John Deaton wins GOP U.S. Senate primary

Warren v. Deaton: The two big things about Mass.’ U.S. Senate race | John L. Micek

The U.S. House of Representatives

All nine members of the Bay State’s all-Democrat U.S. House delegation are on the ballot, and running for reelection for another two-year term on Capitol Hill.

They are:

• U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District
• U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-2nd District
• U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District
• U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District
• U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District
• U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton D-6th District
• U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District
• U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District
• U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-9th District

Just two lawmakers, Lynch and Keating, will have Republican challengers at the polls on Nov. 5.

Lynch will face Robert Burke, a videographer from Milton, who is mounting his second challenge. Lynch has represented the Boston-based seat since 2013.

Keating, who has represented the South Shore-based 9th District — spanning Quincy, the Cape and Islands and New Bedford — since 2013, faces Dan Sullivan, a nurse from Manomet.

The state Legislature

As we noted above, there are 54 contested House races and 14 contested Senate races this year.

Democrats control both the 40-member state Senate and the 160-member state House. And while there is some competition on the ballot this year, an overwhelming majority of state lawmakers are expected to have smooth sailing on the way to re-election on Nov. 5.

Key coverage:

Primary 2024: Most Mass. state lawmakers will coast to reelection. Here are races worth watching

MassLive’s updated list of state lawmakers who aren’t running for reelection in 2024

The Governor’s Council

If you are like most Massachusetts voters, the chances are you don’t give much thought to the Governor’s Council.

But if you must, think of this colonial-era throwback as the Bay State’s political equivalent to Schrödinger’s Cat.

In other words, you know it’s there, and it’s probably doing stuff. But you still need to crack the lid now and then to make sure.

The elected body, also known as the Executive Council, serves a low-profile but very important purpose in state government: It acts on pardons and commutations, confirms judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments to a host of boards and commissions, according to the state’s website.

There are only three contested races for the eight seats on the council, according to Ballotpedia.

Those races are:

District 2: Tamisha Civil (D); Francis T. Crimmins Jr. (R)

District 5: Eunice Ziegler (D); Anne Manning-Martin (R)

District 7: Paul DePalo (D); Andrew Couture (R)

Incumbent Councilors Joseph C. Ferreira (District 1); Christopher A. Iannella (District 4), and Terrence W. Kennedy (District 6), are running without opposition.

Newly elected Councilor Mara Dolan, who defeated incumbent Councilor Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney in the Sept. 3 primary, also is running without general election opposition, according to Ballotpedia.

Key coverage:

What is the Massachusetts Governor’s Council? Who’s on it? What does it do? | John L. Micek

Mass Primary 2024: Governor’s Council primaries: Results from 3 contested races

Mass. Primary 2024: Mara Dolan wins Governor’s Council 3rd District race

The Ballot Questions

Voters also will have their say on five ballot questions spanning a variety of issues.

Question 1: Whether to authorize the state auditor to audit the state Legislature, and remove some existing regulations regarding the auditing process.

Question 2: Whether to repeal the requirement that students must achieve a certain competency level on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam to graduate high school.

Question 3: Whether to provide for unionizing and collective bargaining for transportation network drivers.

Question 4: Regulating access to psychedelic substances.

Question 5: Whether to gradually increase the wage of tipped employees until it meets the state minimum wage in 2029 and still permit tipping in addition to the minimum wage.

Key Coverage:

Now it’s up to voters: Can Diana DiZoglio audit the Legislature?| John L. Micek

Fresh off 2023 wins, advocates eye hiking Mass.’ tipped wage in 2024

Mass. high court allows ballot questions for Uber, app-based drivers

Speaking from Springfield, advocates tout benefits of psychedelic therapy

Tool for equity or perpetrator of inequity? 6 viewpoints on MCAS grad requirement