reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 54 § 103a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 103a - Sections Applicable to City and Town Elections, Primaries and Caucuses, and to Regional Vocational School District Elections

Section 103A. Sections eighty-six to one hundred and three Q, inclusive, of this chapter, sections twenty-one and twenty-seven of chapter fifty-six and sections thirty-four A and thirty-seven A of chapter fifty-three shall, so far as applicable, apply to special and regular city primaries, preliminary elections, elections and to town primaries, preliminary elections and elections whether special or regular and to special and regular regional vocational school district elections including elections called to authorize bond issues for said districts. It shall not apply to caucuses wherein official ballots are not used. All the rights, powers, duties and obligations imposed and conferred upon the state secretary by said sections shall, with respect to said city and town elections, preliminary elections, primaries and caucuses, be exercised and performed by the clerk of such city or town, and, in construing said sections for the purposes of this section, any reference to state elections shall be considered as referring to said city or town function. The city or town clerk shall provide the papers required by said sections in a form prescribed by the state secretary.  In each such city which holds its regular city election annually, or which holds such election biennially in the even numbered years, and in which the date for such election is fixed by general or special law at a date earlier than the third Tuesday of December, the date of such city election shall be said third Tuesday and not such earlier date.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 103p (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 103p - City or Town Elections; Preliminary Elections or Primaries

Section 103P. The provisions of this section shall apply to any regular annual or biennial city or town election, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary. The mayor and aldermen in cities or selectmen in towns may fix the day of holding preliminary elections or primaries in their cities and towns. Where the filing of nomination papers and certification of names thereon in cities and towns that have preliminary elections is based upon the day of the election, they may fix the time for filing nomination papers and for certification of the names thereon. Where nominations for election at a city or town election are made by nomination papers, or by caucuses or conventions, they may fix the last day for filing certificates of nomination and nomination papers. In any city or town where petitions to place questions on the official ballot are filed, they may also fix the last day for filing such petitions. All such petitions shall be submitted to the registrars of voters for certification of the names thereon on or before the fourteenth day preceding the day so fixed for filing.  In any city or town election wherein the voting list of the current year is not available for the purpose of certifying names, the voting list of the preceding year, as amended or revised from time to time, may be used therefor.  Any action taken by the mayor and aldermen or selectmen fixing any day as authorized by this section shall be taken not later than the sixtieth day prior to the day so fixed, and such day so fixed shall be prior to the day otherwise provided by general or special law, and if not so fixed general or special laws shall otherwise apply thereto.  Notice of such action shall be published in one or more local newspapers, if any, or posted in at least five public places within the city or town.  Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if the day fixed by a city or town for holding a preliminary or primary election falls on a religious holiday and impairs the rights of voters as determined by the state secretary, the city or town shall change the date of the election so as to protect the rights of voters.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 103q (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 103q - Informality; Liberal Construction

Section 103Q. No mere informality in the manner or carrying out any provision of law affecting voting by absent voting ballot at an election shall invalidate such election or constitute sufficient cause for the rejection of the returns thereof, and such provisions shall be construed liberally to effectuate their purposes.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 104 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 104 - Use of State Blank Forms and Apparatus; Canvass of Votes

Section 104. The blank forms and apparatus provided by the state secretary shall be used in ascertaining the result of the election or vote in state elections in cities and towns, in city elections, in elections of town officers in towns where official ballots are used, and also in taking the vote upon any proposed amendment to the constitution, upon any law or proposed law submitted to the voters by referendum or initiative petition, and upon any other question submitted by statute to the voters of any senatorial or representative district, or of any city or town in which official ballots are used. If it is impossible to use such blank forms or apparatus, the canvass of the votes shall be made as the presiding officer shall direct; and the clerk shall record the facts relating to the failure to use such blank forms or apparatus, and shall enclose an attested copy of such record in the envelope with the ballots cast.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 106 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 106 - Defective Ballots

Section 106. If the use of a state ballot box is required, no ballot shall be counted unless it has been deposited in and cancelled by such ballot box, or has been otherwise deposited in accordance with section sixty-six. Only official ballots shall be counted in any election for which they are provided. If a voter marks more names than there are persons to be elected to an office, or if his choice cannot be determined, his ballot shall not be counted for such office. Ballots cast but not counted shall be marked ''defective'' on the outside thereof, and shall be preserved like other ballots.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 107 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 107 - Enclosing and Sealing Ballots and Voting Lists; Certification

Section 107. The presiding officer at every polling place at elections of state and city officers and of town officers in towns where official ballots are used shall, after the record of the counting has been made, cause all ballots cast to be publicly enclosed in an envelope or container and sealed up with a seal of durable material provided therefor and also with the private seal of any election officer who may desire to affix the same. Seals for containers may be of material used in such manner as to effectively lock the container, or the container may be tied up lengthwise and crosswise with heavy twine securely tied and with the knot sealed with stationer's sealing wax. The warden and the clerk of the voting precinct, polling place or town shall endorse upon such envelope or container the polling place, the election and the date, and also a certificate that all the ballots cast by the voters of such precinct, polling place or town, and none other, are contained therein. He shall cause all ballots not cast to be enclosed in an envelope or container and sealed up as aforesaid, and shall certify on the envelope or container the contents thereof. Such presiding officer shall cause the voting lists to be enclosed in an envelope and sealed up as aforesaid, and the warden and the clerk shall certify thereon to the identity of the voting lists enclosed. He shall forthwith personally deliver to the city or town clerk or transmit to him, by the police officer or constable in attendance at the election, all the ballots cast, and not cast, the voting lists, the ballot box, the ballot box seals and counting apparatus. This section shall not apply to ballots used in any approved electronic voting system which requires the transmittal of said ballots to a tabulation center.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 108 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 108 - Copies of Voting Lists as Checked

Section 108. At any time after the election, upon written request of any person, the city or town clerk shall, within a reasonable time, open the envelope in which the voting lists have been enclosed, as provided in section one hundred and seven, and make a copy of the lists as checked. The clerk shall thereupon furnish a copy of said lists to the person making the request on payment of a reasonable fee or shall allow such person to examine and copy said lists without charge under such supervision as the clerk may reasonably require. After any such voting list has been so copied, said clerk shall at once enclose it in an envelope, seal up the same and certify thereon to the identity of such lists.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 109 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 109 - Ballots and Lists; Custody; Disposition

Section 109. City and town clerks shall retain in their custody the envelopes or containers containing the ballots cast, without examining them or permitting them to be examined by any person except as required by law, and upon the expiration of the period fixed for their preservation shall cause such ballots to be destroyed.  City and town clerks shall retain in their custody the voting lists as long as they retain the ballots cast. They shall then transmit such voting lists to the registrars of voters, and shall destroy the ballots marked ''Spoiled'', without examining them or permitting them to be examined. Such voting lists shall be preserved by the registrars of voters for reference for two years after the expiration of which they may be destroyed.  City and town clerks shall retain in their custody ballots not cast for 30 days or until any contest is determined or claim is withdrawn under section 134, and shall then make such disposition of the ballots not cast as they consider proper.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 110 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 110 - Rejection of Records

Section 110. No record of votes cast or copy thereof shall be rejected if the number of votes given for each candidate for an office can be ascertained therefrom.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 110a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 110a - Central Tabulation Facilities

Section 110A. The returns transmitted under section one hundred and five shall be considered unofficial and shall be in addition to returns required under this chapter, and shall be disseminated as received by the state secretary from the central tabulation facilities established by him under said section one hundred and five. Subject to the approval of the governor and council, the state secretary may make, and from time to time amend, rules governing the establishment of such central tabulation facilities and the administration thereof.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 111 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 111 - Examination of Precinct Records; Errors; Certification

Section 111. The city or town clerk shall forthwith after each election examine the copies of the records of the election officers, and if any error appears therein, shall forthwith give notice thereof to the officers by whom the error was made, who shall forthwith make an additional record under oath in conformity with the facts and deliver a copy thereof to the city or town clerk. Such copy of the records made, with or without notice as aforesaid, shall be received by the city or town clerk at any time before the last day fixed for the transmission of copies of records of the votes cast in the city or town, or on which the results of the election are required to be declared.  The city or town clerk shall examine all original and all additional copies of the records and make them part of the records of such election, and shall certify and attest copies of the records of votes for the several candidates.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 112 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 112 - Copies of Records of Votes to State Secretary

Section 112. The clerk of each city and town and in Boston the Board of Election Commissioners, within fifteen days after the day of any election therein for a senator in congress, representative in congress, governor, lieutenant governor, councillor, state secretary, state treasurer, state auditor, attorney general, clerk of courts, register of probate, sheriff, district attorney, senator or representative in the general court, or for presidential electors, shall transmit to the state secretary copies of the records of votes cast for such officers, together with copies of the records of votes cast on any constitutional amendment, law or proposed law, and on any question submitted to them by statute in any senatorial or representative district or in two or more cities or towns. Said record shall be certified, attested, and sealed by the city or town clerk or election commissioners. The city or town clerk shall within fifteen days after an election for county treasurer or register of deeds, transmit to the county commissioners, and within fifteen days after an election for county commissioners, transmit to the clerk of the courts the records of votes for such officers, certified, attested and sealed as aforesaid; except that in Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop the records of votes for register of deeds shall be transmitted to the election commissioners of Boston. Such copies shall be transmitted in envelopes, upon which shall be stated the offices for, questions on which and districts in which the votes were cast.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 113 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 113 - Unsealed Copies Transmitted to State Secretary; Proceedings

Section 113. If any such copy transmitted to the state secretary is not sealed as required by law, he shall forthwith give notice thereof to the officers who transmitted the same; and thereupon another copy shall be made, attested, certified, sealed and transmitted to the secretary. If the second copy is received by him before determination of the persons appearing to be elected and the original appears to be in substantial conformity therewith, the original copy shall not be rejected.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 114 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 114 - Endorsement or Memorandum of Receipt

Section 114. The state secretary shall cause the date of the receipt of each copy of the records of votes to be endorsed on the envelope containing it; and if received unsealed, a memorandum thereof shall be made on the copy.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 115 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 115 - Copies of Records of Votes to Governor and Council; Examination; Determination of Results

Section 115. The state secretary shall lay before the governor and council the copies of the votes cast. After such delivery, the governor, with at least five councillors, shall examine the copies. They shall tabulate said votes and determine who appear to be elected to the several offices, and what appears to be the result of the votes on any question or questions, and shall forthwith transmit to the state secretary an abstract of such tabulation and determination. The state secretary, upon application, shall furnish to newspapers copies of such abstract. In case of a state-wide or district-wide recount under section one hundred and thirty-five, the state secretary shall in like manner lay before the governor and council the copies of the amended records received by him under said section, and the governor with at least five councillors shall, if necessary, revise the aforesaid tabulation and determination accordingly.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 116 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 116 - Certification of Results; Summons; Certificates of Election

Section 116. The governor shall, in the presence of at least five councillors, certify to the results of the examination of the copies of the records of votes cast for governor and lieutenant governor, for councillors, for state secretary, state treasurer, state auditor and attorney general, and for senators and representatives in the general court, and shall issue his summons to such persons as appear to be chosen to said offices. The governor shall issue certificates of election to such persons as appear to be chosen to the offices of senator in congress, representative in congress, clerk of the courts, register of probate, sheriff and district attorney, which shall be countersigned and transmitted by the state secretary. No certification shall be made or summons or certificate issued under this section until after five o'clock in the afternoon of the fifteenth day following a state election, or, in case a state-wide or district-wide recount is held in accordance with section one hundred and thirty-five, until the tabulation and determination under the preceding section have been revised in accordance with the results of such recount; provided, however, that such certification may be made or summons or certificate issued on or after the seventh day following a special state election, unless a candidate who received votes at that election files with the state secretary, not later than five o'clock in the afternoon of the sixth day following the election, a written statement of intention to seek a recount or otherwise to contest the election.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 116a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 116a - Election of Person Not Listed on State Ballot; Financial Interest Statement

Section 116A. Any person whose name does not appear on the state election ballot, but who receives sufficient votes to elect him to an office appearing on said ballot, shall within three days after the certification of his election file a statement of financial interest under chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B with the state ethics commission, if he has not already done so.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 117 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 117 - Return to State Secretary; Laying Before Legislature; Filing

Section 117. After such certification, such copies shall be replaced in their respective envelopes and delivered with the certificate of examination to the state secretary, who shall on the first Wednesday in January lay the same, with schedules showing the number of ballots cast for each person voted for, before the senate and house of representatives.  Except for the above purposes, all such copies, both original and corrected, transmitted to the state secretary, shall remain on file in his office and be there open to the inspection of any interested person.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 118 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 118 - Presidential Electors; Copies of Records of Votes; Proclamations; Certificate of Election

Section 118. The copies of the records of votes for presidential electors shall, in any event, within ten days after they have been transmitted to the state secretary, be examined by the governor and council, who shall thereafter declare, by proclamation, the names of the persons who have received at least one-fifth of the entire number of votes cast for electors, and the number of votes received by each such person. The several persons, to the number of electors required to be chosen, who have received the highest number of votes so ascertained, unless notice of a contest has been received by the governor, shall, at the expiration of fourteen days from the date of such proclamation, be deemed to be elected; and the governor shall thereupon issue a certificate of election to every such person.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 119 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 119 - Petition to Court for Declaration of Election; Notice; Hearing

Section 119. Any person who appears, by the proclamation of the governor, to have received not less than one fifth of the entire number of votes cast for electors, may, if the election is contested, apply by petition to the supreme judicial court for Suffolk county, for a declaration of his election as an elector. Such petition shall set forth the name of every person whose election is contested and the ground for the contest, shall be filed within seven days after the date of such proclamation and shall not thereafter be amended. Before any proceedings thereon, the petitioner shall recognize to the commonwealth, in such sum and with such sureties as the court shall order, to pay all costs incurred in the prosecution of his petition if he shall not prevail. If the petitioner prevails, the cost shall be paid by the commonwealth. The court shall fix a day for a hearing by the full court, which shall be not less than three nor more than seven days after the date of the filing of the petition, and shall order notice of the hearing to be given, with a statement of the substance of the petition in such manner as it may direct, to the governor and to every person whose election is contested. The court shall also order such notice to be published in at least one newspaper designated by it in each county.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 120 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 120 - Procedure; Compulsion and Immunity of Witness

Section 120. The petitioner and the contestant may appear and produce evidence at the hearing, and no person other than the petitioner or a contestant shall be made a party to the proceedings on such petition, or be heard thereon. If more than one petition is pending, or the election of more than one person is contested, the court may order the cases to be heard together and shall apportion the costs between them, and shall finally determine all questions of law and fact. No person shall be excused from testifying or producing papers or documents therein on the ground that his testimony or the production of the papers or documents will tend to criminate him; but no person so testifying shall be liable to any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, for any matter or cause in respect to which he shall be so examined or to which his testimony shall relate, except to a prosecution for perjury committed in such testimony. The court shall forthwith certify its decision to the governor, who shall thereupon issue certificates of election in accordance therewith. If the petitioner does not prosecute his petition it shall be dismissed and notice thereof given to the governor, who shall issue certificates of election to the persons entitled thereto.