Disclosure: Michael Silvia, the publisher of Fall River Reporter, founded MassVoter.com.
Early voting starts Saturday, October 17, and Fall River voters have a long ballot to work through: a U.S. Senate seat, Governor and four other statewide offices, Bristol County District Attorney, Congress, State Senate, State Representative and nine statewide ballot questions.
MassVoter.com, a free and nonpartisan site, puts the whole Fall River ballot on one page. Each race and question has a short quiz, about a minute long. The result shows which candidate’s positions a voter agrees with most, and on which issues. The site never tells anyone how to vote.
Eighteen quizzes are live on the Fall River ballot page today: four statewide races, a Governor debate quiz, the District Attorney race, State Senate in the 1st Bristol & Plymouth district, State Representative in the 6th and 8th Bristol districts, and all nine ballot questions. Each voter lives in only one State Representative district, so a Fall River voter has up to 17 quizzes to take.
How it works
- Open the Fall River ballot. Go to MassVoter.com and type Fall River, or go straight to massvoter.com/ballot/fall-river. Fall River is split among three State Representative districts. Those races are marked “Part of Fall River,” and a “Use my location” button shows just the races on your own ballot.
- Take a quiz. Each quiz has 5 to 9 questions. For each one, pick the answer closest to your view. The answers are real positions the candidates have taken, with no names attached.
- See who you match. The result names the candidate you agree with most and shows the issues behind it. A “Where they agree” box lists positions both candidates share.
- Keep going. A progress bar tracks how much of the Fall River ballot you’ve finished and points to the next quiz. “Email me my ballot” sends the full list, quiz links and key dates.
No account, name or email is needed. Quiz answers are saved without names, emails or IP addresses and are only looked at as totals.
How the quizzes stay fair
Every quiz question comes from the candidates’ own words: debates, interviews, campaign websites, voting records and written answers to a MassVoter questionnaire. Positions are never guessed from a party label, an endorsement or what a host or reporter said.
- Same questions for every candidate. Both candidates in a race get the same questionnaire.
- Only real differences. A question is used only when the candidates answer it differently. Positions they share go in the “Where they agree” box instead, with sources.
- No hints. Answers are shuffled for every visitor, no candidate always comes first, and names appear only on the results page.
- Every question is sourced. Each one is tied to the interview, debate, record or reply it came from.
- A minimum before going live. A race quiz goes live only once it has at least five questions, so one or two issues don’t decide the result.
- Ballot questions use the official guide. The nine ballot question quizzes are built from the state’s Information for Voters booklet. Results show which way a voter’s answers lean, YES or NO, and are not a recommendation.
What’s on the Fall River ballot
Candidates are listed in the order they appear on the ballot.
| Race | Candidates | Quiz |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senate | Edward J. Markey (D), John Deaton (R); also Shiva Ayyadurai (Independent), Joe Tache (Socialism and Liberation) | Live, 9 questions |
| Governor | Healey and Driscoll (D), Minogue and Oliver (R); also James and Kittredge (Independent) | Live, plus a debate quiz from the Oct. 8 WBZ-TV debate |
| Secretary of State | William Francis Galvin (D), Anne R. Brensley (R) | Live |
| Attorney General | Andrea Campbell (D), Michael Walsh (R) | Live |
| Treasurer | Deborah Goldberg (D), Elizabeth Dionne (R) | Coming soon |
| Auditor | Diana DiZoglio (D), Al Ozonoff (Libertarian) | Coming soon |
| Bristol County District Attorney | Christopher Matthew Markey (D), Seth Thomas Aitken (R) | Live, 9 questions |
| Bristol County Register of Probate | Thomas Cleary Hoye, Jr. (D), Melanie Patenaude Layden (Independent) | Coming soon |
| U.S. House, 4th District | Jake Auchincloss (D), Thomas Stalcup (R) | Coming soon |
| State Senate, 1st Bristol & Plymouth | Michael J. Rodrigues (D), Gabriel Boomer Amaral (R) | Live, 7 questions |
| State Representative, 6th Bristol (part of the city) | Carole A. Fiola (D), Robert G. Anctil (R) | Live, 7 questions |
| State Representative, 7th Bristol (part of the city) | Alan Silvia (D), Talos D. Farris (R) | Coming soon |
| State Representative, 8th Bristol (part of the city) | Steven J. Ouellette (D), Jesse W. St. Gelais (R) | Live |
| Ballot Questions 1 to 9 | YES or NO | All 9 live |
Quizzes marked “coming soon” go live once MassVoter has at least five questions where the candidates differ, usually after both answer the questionnaire.
Beyond the quizzes
MassVoter’s Fall River page also gathers the city’s own public record in one place:
- How the City Council votes. The Fall River City Council page has 638 meetings and more than 9,000 votes from January 2016 through September 2026, each taken from the council’s official minutes and linked to the source. Every councilor has a page with their attendance and their votes.
- The School Committee. The Fall River School Committee page has 79 meetings and 1,737 votes from May 2020 to January 2026.
- Vote Transparency Score. Each board gets a score out of 10 for how completely and quickly its minutes are posted and how clearly votes are recorded. The City Council scores 8 and the School Committee 7. The score rates the records, not the officials.
- Fall River’s legislators. Each State Representative and Senator who represents the city has a page with their State House roll call votes, missed votes, bills filed and committee seats.
- Campaign money. Totals raised, spent and on hand for each state and county race, from state campaign finance reports, shown the same way for every candidate. City Council members’ campaign accounts are shown too.
Key dates
- Saturday, October 17 to Friday, October 30: early voting in person. Fall River’s early voting places and hours are on the state’s early voting lookup (pick Fall River).
- Saturday, October 24: last day to register to vote.
- Tuesday, October 27, 5 p.m.: last day to request a mail ballot (voting options and deadlines).
- Tuesday, November 3: Election Day. Find your polling place.
The Fall River ballot and quizzes are at massvoter.com/ballot/fall-river. The site is free and works on any phone or computer.
Disclosure: Fall River Reporter publisher Michael Silvia founded MassVoter.com. MassVoter does not endorse candidates or ballot positions.
