hile some initiative campaigns have spent millions, aired television advertisements, and toured the state by bus, the fight over Question 2 has been waged more quietly, as one Republican lawmaker leads an effort to limit felons from voting.
''There's been no money spent on it,'' said Darren Johnson, a spokesman for Representative Francis L. Marini of Hanson, the Republican minority leader and chief sponsor of the referendum. ''There has been no concerted effort to go out and stump for Question 2.''
If Question 2 passes, the state constitution will be amended with language that bans incarcerated felons from voting for state offices. The Legislature has already overwhelmingly approved it in joint session.
Massachusetts is one of only three states where felons may vote while in jail. They do so by absentee ballot. Supporters of Question 2 argue that stripping prisoners of their right to vote protects ''democracy's greatest gift'' by reserving it for the law-abiding.
''The right to vote is the fundamental building block in democracy and it needs to be honored and exalted, and to have pedophiles, murderers and rapists voting, demeans it,'' Marini said. ''If you've done something so bad that we feel we need to segregate you from society, we feel you should lose the right to vote as well.''
However, opponents have criticized the initiative as poorly conceived and sloppily written, because if it passes, prisoners will retain their right to vote for many other offices, including president, county sheriff, and selectman.
Governor Cellucci has pushed to outlaw prisoners' participation in elections since 1997, when he filed a constitutional amendment seeking the ban, the same week he filed an executive order preventing prisoners from forming political action committees.
More than 20 organizations have joined Stephen T. Saloom, director of the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, in urging voters to defeat Question 2. But Saloom admitted that because there has been only a handful of debates and minimal media coverage, his side faces an uphill battle. Polls show the question stands a good chance of passage.
''They need to think hard about this,'' Saloom said. ''Neither side has advertising money, but the fact is we're amending the constitution and people have to at least recognize the issue.''
REGINA MONTAGUE
