reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 54 § 33c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 33c - Instructions to Voter After Entering Voting Machine Booth; Re-Entry After Voting

Section 33C. If any voter, after he has enclosed himself in the voting machine booth, or in a compartment which contains a marking unit, wherever electronic voting systems are used, shall ask for further instructions concerning the manner of operating the machine or marking unit, two election officers of different political parties shall given him such instructions. No officer or person instructing him shall in any manner request or seek to persuade or induce any such voter to vote for any candidate or candidates, or for or against any question submitted to the voters. After giving such instructions, and before such voter shall have registered his vote, the officers or persons instructing him shall retire, and such voter shall then register his vote as he may desire. No voter after registering his vote and emerging from the machine booth or the marking compartment shall be permitted to reenter it.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 33d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 33d - Voting for Persons Not Listed on Ballot Labels of Machine

Section 33D. Every vote cast for any person whose name does not appear on the ballot labels of the machine as a nominated candidate for office shall be written or affixed or enclosed on or in the appropriate place on the machine provided for that purpose, or it shall not be counted.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 33f (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 33f - Computers and Counting Units; Central Tabulation Centers; Preparation; Testing

Section 33F. If the system employed makes use of a computer, or similar counting unit for the tabulation of the vote cast either on paper ballots or punched cards, the city or town clerk shall designate, no later than one week prior to the date of the primary, preliminary election or election, a central tabulation center, or may designate all the polling places as tabulation centers, where such ballots or cards shall be counted. There shall be at least one computer or counting unit at each such tabulation center. If a central tabulation center is designated, it may be located in any municipality within the commonwealth; provided, however, that said tabulation center is no greater distance than fifty miles from the municipality conducting said primary, preliminary election, or election. Said clerk shall also require that a program for the counting of the votes, prepared by a suitably skilled technician, be in readiness for use in said computer or counting unit, no later than the fourth day prior to the primary, preliminary election or election. Said clerk shall cause to be prepared a set of ballots or punched cards, whichever is appropriate, so marked or perforated as to adequately test the programmed computer or counting unit, to demonstrate its rejection of cards or ballots which contain more votes for any office than the voter is entitled to, and to test any other contents of the program which in the opinion of the clerk may have a bearing upon the accuracy of the count to be made by such computer or counting unit.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 33g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 33g - Lease or Purchase of Marking Units or Tabulating Units; Bonds From Manufacturers or Distributors

Section 33G. If any special marking units or special tabulating units are leased or purchased by a city or town, the manufacturer or distributor of such units shall give to the city or town clerk a bond, with sufficient sureties, to keep such units in working order for at least two calendar years from the date of lease or purchase. Said manufacturer or distributor shall also give to said clerk a bond, with sufficient sureties, conditioned to defend and indemnify the city or town leasing the units against any suit at law or in equity and for any expense, damage or inconvenience which they may incur or suffer by reason of any suit brought against them for infringement of patents or other rights arising from the lease or use of such units.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 33i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 33i - Examination of Electronic Poll Books; Compliance With Minimum Requirements; Approval for Use in Elections

[Section impacted by 2020, 45, Secs. 1 and 1A, as amended by 2020, 92, Secs. 1 to 3, effective March 23, 2020 and 2020, 92 Secs. 15 to 17 effective June 5, 2020 and 2020, 115, Sec. 20 effective July 6, 2020 relating to elections in order to address disruptions caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.]  Section 33I. (a) The state secretary shall examine all types of electronic poll books and determine whether such equipment complies with the minimum requirements for such equipment imposed by regulation promulgated by the state secretary and whether the use of such equipment would further the efficient administration of elections.  (b) Any person owning or interested in such equipment may submit it to the state secretary for examination. For the purpose of assistance in examining such new equipment, the state secretary may, subject to appropriation, employ the services of technical experts.  (c) Any electronic poll book that receives the approval of the state secretary may be used for conducting elections. Any electronic poll book that does not receive such approval shall not be adopted for or used at any election. After such equipment has been approved by the state secretary, any change or improvement in the equipment that does not impair its accuracy, efficiency or capacity shall not render necessary a reexamination or reapproval of the equipment.  (d) A city or town may vote to use approved electronic poll books by a vote of the board of selectmen or town council in a town or city council in a city taken at least 60 days before the first election at which such equipment is to be used. Notification of use of an approved electronic poll book shall be sent to the state secretary within 5 days after the vote.  (e) The state secretary shall promulgate regulations for the certification process, standards, including security, and use of electronic poll books at a polling place or early voting location.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 35a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 35a - Challenged or Absent Voting Ballots Where Voting Machines Used; Questions Submitted to Voters

Section 35A. At polling places where voting machines are used ballots cast by challenged voters, and absent voting ballots cast at elections where such voting is permitted by law, shall be deposited in ballot boxes provided in accordance with law. For such polling places, the state secretary or the city or town clerk, as the case may be, shall prepare for the use of voters voting in person whose right to vote is challenged official absent voting ballots, marked ''Challenged Ballots'' in large type on the back thereof, when folded. Any such official absent voting ballot so used shall be an official ballot, as such term is used in section thirty-five B. When the state secretary shall determine that it is not feasible for the summary of any question or questions submitted to the people to appear on the voting machine, he shall prepare separate sheets of paper containing such summary and provide such sheets for each polling place, to be used by the voters casting their votes on the voting machine, and one such sheet shall be furnished to each voter as he prepares to cast his vote by the use of such a machine.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 36 - Number of Election Officers Present When Voting Machines Used

Section 36. In any election when voting machines are used in any polling place in any city or town, the number of election officers in such polling place may be less than six in the discretion of the board, body or official in which or in whom the authority to determine the number of election officers in such polling place is vested by law, subject to section thirteen.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 37 - Regulations for Use of Voting Machines, Ballot Boxes, Etc.

Section 37. The state secretary shall promulgate regulations governing the approval of voting equipment under section thirty-two.  The state secretary shall promulgate regulations governing the contents, form, character and kind of ballots, ballot labels, ballot cards, formats, records, papers and documents and other materials and supplies and procedures necessary in the use of any voting equipment approved in accordance with section thirty-two and in the process of counting and tabulating the ballots.  The state secretary shall prescribe by regulation approved methods of voting such as paper ballot voting, machine voting and electronic voting.  The state secretary shall prescribe rules and regulations to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of accuracy, impartiality and efficiency on the procedures of voting and of counting, tabulating and recording votes.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 39 - Seller's Bonds; Electronic Voting Systems, Voting Machines or Ballot Boxes

Section 39. When an electronic voting system, voting machines or ballot boxes are purchased by the commonwealth or by a city or town, the persons of whom the purchase is made shall give to the state secretary, city or town clerk or election commissioners, as the case may be, a bond with sufficient sureties to keep such system, machines or ballot boxes in working order for two years. Such persons shall also give a bond with sufficient sureties, conditioned to defend and indemnify the commonwealth or cities and towns purchasing, leasing or using the system, machines or ballot boxes against any legal action and for any expense, damage or inconvenience which they may incur or suffer by reason of any suit brought against them for infringement of patents or other rights, arising from the purchase, lease, or use of such system, machines or ballot boxes.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 40 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 40 - Preparation and Furnishing

Section 40. All ballots for use in elections of state officers shall be prepared and furnished by the state secretary, and all ballots for use in elections of city or town officers, by the city or town clerk. Ballots for use in an electronic voting system shall be in a form approved by the state secretary under sections thirty-two and thirty-seven.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 41a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 41a - Governor and Lieutenant Governor Candidates; Grouping Party Nominees; Order

Section 41A. The surnames of candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall be placed upon the official ballot for use at state elections in groups, according to their political party or designation; except, in the case where two candidates have the same surname, then christian names and addresses as they appear on the voting list for each candidate, shall be placed on the ballot. On the right of each such group shall appear a square in which the voter may designate by a cross (X) his choice. The placing of such a cross in the square shall constitute a vote for the candidate for governor and a vote for the candidate for lieutenant governor so designated. The order of the various groups on the ballot shall be determined as follows:—The group in which appears the name of a candidate for governor who is an elected incumbent shall be placed first, except as provided in section thirty-three. Next in order shall appear the groups of candidates of political parties, arranged alphabetically in accordance with the surnames of the candidates for governor, and all other groups of candidates for such offices shall follow, in like order.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 42a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 42a - Questions Submitted to Voters; Designation

Section 42A. The state secretary and the city or town clerks shall cause each question appearing upon ballots prepared by them to be designated as follows: Questions submitted to the people under Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall appear first in order upon the ballot numbered consecutively, and the first such question so appearing shall be designated by the numeral 1; additional questions shall follow numbered so that all questions appearing upon such ballot shall be numbered consecutively; provided, however, that the fair, concise summary of any measure submitted to the voters under the provisions of said Article XLVIII shall be accompanied on the ballot by the one sentence statement describing the effect of a yes or no vote, prepared as required in section 53. The questions required to be placed upon the official ballot at a biennial state election by section eleven of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight shall be numbered as a single question having three parts, and the questions required to be placed upon the official ballot at such an election by section fourteen of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A shall be numbered as a single question having two parts.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 42b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 42b - Public Policy Questions; Placement on Ballots

Section 42B. When a question to be submitted to the voters is one of public policy, it shall be stated upon the ballot of every voter thereon: ''This question is not binding.''.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 42c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 42c - Deadline for Ballot Questions

Section 42C. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary establishing a later time, the state secretary shall not print on the biennial state election ballot any question to the voters for which he receives final written notice after the sixtieth day before said election. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary establishing a later time, a city or town clerk shall not print on a city or town election ballot any question to the voters for which he receives final written notice after the thirty-fifth day before such election.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 43 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 43 - Presidential Electors; Arrangement of Names

Section 43. The names of the candidates for presidential electors shall not be printed on the ballot, but in lieu thereof the surnames of the candidates of each party for president and vice president shall be printed thereon in one line under the designation ''Electors of president and vice president'' and arranged in the alphabetical order of the surnames of the candidates for president, with the political designation of the party placed at the right of and in the same line with the surnames. A sufficient square in which each voter may designate by a cross (X) his choice for electors shall be left at the right of each political designation.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 43a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 43a - State Elections and Primaries; Officers to Be Elected; Manner and Order of Appearance on Ballots

Section 43A. At state elections and primaries at which any of the following offices are to be voted for, such offices shall appear on ballots and on ballot labels on voting machines in the following order consecutively:—Presidential elector, senator in congress, governor and lieutenant governor, as a group at a state election, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and receiver general, auditor, congressman, councillor, senator and representative in the general court; all other offices to be voted for shall immediately follow said offices consecutively, in such order as the secretary of state may determine; and on ballots, and on ballot labels on voting machines on which the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a vertical row, questions to the voters shall follow all of said offices, in such order as the secretary of state may determine.  On ballot labels on voting machines used at state elections and primaries there shall be a space separating the names of the candidates for the office of senator in congress from the names of the candidates for the office of governor, which space shall be not less than one inch in width horizontally when the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a horizontal row or one inch in depth vertically when the names of the candidates of each political party are arranged in a vertical row.  On ballots at state elections at which the office of presidential elector is to be voted for, said office shall appear on the ballot in the first column at the left side thereof and the office of senator in congress, if any is to be voted for, shall appear in the same column beneath said office of presidential elector; on ballots at state election and primaries at which the office of presidential elector is not to be voted for, the office of senator in congress, if any is to be voted for, shall appear in the first column at the left side thereof, the groups of candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall follow. If neither of the offices of presidential elector or senator in congress is to be voted for, the groups of candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall appear on the ballot at the top of the first column at the left of the ballot.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 44 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 44 - Official Ballots

Section 44. The official ballots shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, be of ordinary white printing paper, of two or more pages, and shall, before distribution, be so folded as to measure not less than four and one half nor more than five inches in width and not less than six nor more than thirteen and one half inches in length. The names of all candidates shall be printed in black ink in lines at a right angle with the length of the ballot. The names of all candidates shall be in capital letters not less than one eighth nor more than one quarter of an inch in height, except that surnames and political designations of the candidates for president and vice president and the names of the candidates for the office of senator in congress shall be in capital letters not less than three sixteenths of an inch in height.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 45 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 45 - Number of Ballots Provided; Ballot Labels for Voting Machines

Section 45. One set of ballots, not less than one for each registered voter, shall be provided for each polling place at which an election for state, city or town officers is to be held. The state secretary or the city or town clerk, as the case may be, may provide a duplicate set of ballots for any polling place when he deems it necessary.  Where voting machines or electronic voting systems are used, the state secretary or the city or town clerk, as the case may be, shall provide sets of ballot labels equal to at least one and one half sets for each such machine or marking unit, provided that at least two sets are provided for each precinct. Official ballots shall also be furnished where voting machines are used, in accordance with section thirty-five A.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 46 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 46 - Packaging Ballots; Record

Section 46. Ballots, in convenient numbers, shall be arranged in packages. A record of the number of ballots printed and delivered to each polling place shall be kept by the state secretary, or the city or town clerk, for one year.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 47 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 47 - Vacancies; Printing Ballots

Section 47. If a vacancy occurs or is declared in the list of nominations, by reason of death or ineligibility, the name of the candidate nominated to fill such vacancy shall, if the ballots have not been printed, be placed on them or, if the ballots have been printed, ballots containing the new nomination shall, when practicable, be substituted.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 48 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 48 - Cards of Instruction; Specimen Ballots; Copies of Information for Voters Material

Section 48. The state secretary in state elections, city clerks in city elections, and town clerks in town elections at which official ballots are used, shall, for every such election, prepare and cause to be printed in large clear type cards containing full instructions to voters for obtaining ballots, marking them, obtaining assistance and new ballots in place of those accidentally spoiled; and on separate cards such abstracts of the laws imposing penalties upon voters as they shall deem proper. They shall also provide for each polling place ten or more specimen ballots which shall be facsimiles of the ballots provided for voting, but printed without the endorsements and on colored paper. For each polling place where voting machines are used they shall also provide ten voting machine sample ballots which shall be facsimiles of the face of the voting machine as it will appear when set up for use. For each polling place where an electronic voting system is used they shall also provide ten marking unit sample ballots which shall be facsimiles of the booklet, page or ballot display contained in the marking units, printed on one sheet, in a manner suitable for posting. For state elections the state secretary shall supply to each polling place at least one for every one hundred voters thereof copies of the information for voters material provided for in section fifty-four.