n a ballot question that has received minimal opposition and publicity, voters will decide whether new voting districts will go into effect with the 2002 elections rather than for the polling of 2004.
''It's not the sexiest issue in town, that's for sure,'' said the secretary of state, William Galvin. ''But it's an important one.''
Approval of Question 1 would change the state Constitution to allow political representation to reflect the latest US Census data two years earlier than it would otherwise. The current timetable made sense when Massachusetts conducted its own census, Galvin said. Because it now relies on federal Census data, which will be available next spring, the current timetable would probably be challenged in court as violating the US Constitution, he said. Without a change, outdated 1990 Census data would still be the basis for representation across the state until 2004.
While the measure received the unanimous endorsement of the Legislature this year, its passage would mean that slow-growing areas of the state, including Boston and parts of Western Massachusetts, will probably lose statewide political influence two years earlier than they would otherwise. Galvin called that ''holding on to political representation that you don't deserve,'' and he said a court could force new districts on the state if the ballot question fails.
RICK KLEIN
