reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 54 § 48a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 48a - Voters' Bill of Rights; Postings; Preparation and Revision

Section 48A. The state secretary shall provide a voters' bill of rights, which shall summarize appropriate election laws of the United States and the commonwealth as the state secretary determines, in a form suitable for posting for every polling place for every election. The state secretary shall also include the voters' bill of rights in appropriate publications of the state secretary and on the electronic website of the state secretary, and shall transmit copies of the voters' bill of rights to state and municipal offices where citizens register to vote, including but not limited to the offices of city and town registrars of voters, offices of city and town clerks, and offices of the registry of motor vehicles.  The state secretary shall prepare the voters' bill of rights after consulting the joint committee on election laws of the general court, and the state secretary shall revise it to reflect changes in the election laws of the United States and the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 49 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 49 - Lists of Candidates; Copies of Proposed Constitutional Amendments or Laws

Section 49. The state secretary, at least five days before state elections, shall transmit to the city or town clerk printed lists of the names, residences and designations of candidates to be voted for at each polling place, substantially in the form of the official ballot, and also printed copies of any proposed amendment to the constitution, law, or proposed law, to be submitted to the people. Upon the receipt thereof the city or town clerk shall conspicuously post in not less than three public places in each ward of a city, or in each town, or in towns divided into voting precincts in each precinct, the lists and copies aforesaid for such ward, town or precinct.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 50 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 50 - City Elections; Posting Names of Candidates

Section 50. At least four days before a city election, city clerks shall cause to be posted in every voting precinct the names, residences and designations of all candidates duly nominated to be voted for in their respective cities, substantially in the form of the official ballot.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 51 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 51 - Town Elections; Posting Names of Candidates

Section 51. In towns using official ballots the town clerk, at least four days before an election therein, shall cause to be posted in one or more public places the names, residences and designations of all candidates duly nominated to be voted for in the town, substantially in the form of the official ballot.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 52 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 52 - Lists of Candidates; Questions Submitted to Voters; Availability for Publication; State and City Elections

Section 52. Before every state election, the state secretary shall make available a list of all candidates to be voted for. He shall also print with said lists the form of any question to be submitted to the voters. Such lists shall be public records and one copy shall be sent to every newspaper in the commonwealth listed in the Directory of New England Newspapers and Periodicals, to be used at the discretion of said newspapers. Before every city election, city clerks shall make available a list of all candidates to be voted for in their respective cities, and the form of any question to be submitted to the voters at such election. Such lists shall be public records and one copy shall be sent to every newspaper listed in the Directory of New England Newspapers and Periodicals, located in such city, to be used at the discretion of said newspapers.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 54 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 54 - Arguments on Measures; Preparation; Submission, Filing; Printing; Mailing

Section 54. The state secretary shall cause to be printed and sent, in the manner provided in section fifty-three, arguments for and against every measure to be submitted to the voters of the commonwealth. No argument shall contain more than one hundred and fifty words. The secretary shall seek such arguments from the principal proponents and opponents of each initiative or referendum petition, legislative amendment, legislative substitute or other measure to be submitted to all the voters of the commonwealth and such arguments may be filed on or before the tenth day following the date that any such measure is finally received by the secretary for submission to the voters or within such further time as he shall designate. For purposes of this section, the principal proponents and opponents of a measure shall be those persons determined by the secretary to be best able to present the argument for and against the measure, respectively, at the time the measure is finally received by the secretary for submission to the voters, provided that the principal proponents of an initiative or referendum petition shall be the first ten signers of such petition, or a majority of them. In determining the principal proponents and opponents of a measure, the state secretary shall contact each nonelected political committee which is organized under the provision of chapter fifty-five and which is on file with the director of campaign and political finance to influence the outcome of such a measure. If no argument is received by the secretary from the principal proponents or opponents of a measure within the time allowed by this section, the secretary shall prepare such argument. All arguments filed with or prepared by the secretary under this section shall be open to public inspection.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 58a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 58a - General Laws Submitted to Municipal Voters for Acceptance; Form of Question; Filing Date

Section 58A. Whenever any provision of the General Laws, submitted for acceptance to the voters of a city or town, is to be placed on the ballot at any election, the city or town clerk shall place it on the ballot in the following form:—  ''Shall this (city or town) accept the provisions of section (here insert section number) of chapter (here insert chapter number) of the General Laws, a fair and concise summary of which appears below?''  (Set forth here a fair, concise summary and purpose of the law to be acted upon, as determined by the city solicitor or town counsel, as the case may be.) If a majority of the voters voting on said question vote in the affirmative, then said provisions shall take effect in said city or town, but not otherwise.  The provisions of this section relative to the form of submitting for acceptance to the voters of a city or town of any provision of the General Laws shall not apply to the submission for acceptance of any provision of the General Laws in which or in the act creating such provision there is set forth the form in which the question of the acceptance shall be submitted to the voters.  The final date for notifying, or filing a petition with, the city or town clerk or the state secretary to place such a question on the ballot shall be, if no final date is otherwise provided, thirty-five days before the city or town election or sixty days before the state election.  The provisions of this section, including the provision for a fair, concise summary determined by the city solicitor or town counsel, shall also apply whenever any special act is submitted for acceptance to the voters of a city or town, except to the extent that the special act expressly provides otherwise.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 59 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 59 - Packaging and Delivery to City or Town Clerks

Section 59. Ballots for state elections shall be enclosed in a package by the state secretary, sealed and marked with the number of ballots of each kind therein, and specimen ballots, cards of instruction, cards containing abstracts of the laws imposing penalties upon voters, and copies of any measure to be submitted to the people shall be enclosed in another package, and the whole shall be further enclosed in a single package with marks on the outside indicating its contents and the polling place for which it is intended, and transmitted to city and town clerks, so as to be received at least twelve hours before the date of election. The clerks shall return receipts therefor to the secretary. He shall keep a record of the time when and the manner in which the several packages are transmitted, and shall preserve the receipts therefor for one year.  The clerk of each city and of each town using official ballots shall enclose the ballots, specimen ballots, cards of instruction and cards containing abstracts of the laws imposing penalties upon voters for city or town elections in the same manner.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 60 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 60 - Duties of City and Town Clerks; Delivery to Polls; Receipts

Section 60. The city or town clerk, on the day of every state or city election, before the opening of the polls, shall transmit to the election officers of each polling place therein, all things mentioned in the preceding section which have been provided for such polling place; and the presiding election officer at the polling place shall receipt therefor to the clerk, and such receipt, with a record of the number of ballots transmitted, shall be kept in the clerk's office for one year. At town elections, the town clerk shall, on the day of the election, before the opening of the polls, deliver the ballots at the polling place to the ballot clerks, who shall receipt therefor, and their receipt shall be preserved in the office of the clerk for one year. If a moderator presides at such election, no such ballots shall be delivered to voters until he has been chosen. The town clerk shall also deliver the specimen ballots, cards of instruction and cards containing abstracts of the laws imposing penalties upon voters at the same time and place. No ballots or specimen ballots shall be delivered by city or town clerks except as provided herein and in section thirty-five A.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 61 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 61 - Failure to Deliver; Substitute Ballots

Section 61. If the ballots provided for any polling place are not delivered, or if after delivery they are destroyed or stolen, the city or town clerk shall cause similar ballots to be prepared; and upon receipt of such new ballots, accompanied by a statement by him on oath that they have been so prepared and transmitted by him, and that the original ballots have not been delivered or have been so destroyed or stolen, the ballots so substituted shall be used.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 62 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 62 - Biennial State Elections

Section 62. The biennial state election for the choice of the officers to be elected pursuant to sections one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty-two, inclusive, shall be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in every even-numbered year.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 63 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 63 - Calling City and Town Elections; Notice

Section 63. Elections of state officers and city officers shall be called by the aldermen, and the city clerk shall, under their direction, cause notice of such elections to be conspicuously posted in the office of the city clerk or on the principal official bulletin board of such city and any other public building they deem necessary. Before every city election, the clerk shall make available a list of all candidates. He shall also print with said list the form of any question to be submitted to the voters. Such lists shall be public records and one copy shall be sent to every newspaper in said city listed in the Directory of New England Newspapers and Periodicals, to be used at the discretion of said newspapers. Such notices shall be in lieu of the notices or warrants for election required in any city by special statutes. Elections of state officers and town officers shall be called in towns as provided in section ten of chapter thirty-nine. The biennial state and the annual or biennial city and town elections shall be called at least seven days before the day prescribed for the holding thereof.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 64 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 64 - Notices or Warrants; Requisites; Time of Opening and Closing Polls

Section 64. Notices or warrants for state and city elections and for the election of town officers in towns where official ballots are used shall specify by name all the offices to be voted for, and state, in the form in which it will appear upon the ballot, any question submitted to the voters. They shall specify the time when the polls will be opened, and in cities and in towns when voting by precincts, when the polls will be closed, and in towns when not voting by precincts, when they may be closed.  The polls shall in no case be kept open after eight o'clock in the evening. At state elections the polls shall not be closed before eight o'clock in the evening.  In cities and towns at the election of state officers, the polls may be open as early as fifteen minutes before six o'clock in the forenoon, and shall be open not later than seven o'clock in the forenoon and shall be kept open at least thirteen hours. In cities at the election of city officers, the polls may be open as early as fifteen minutes before six o'clock in the forenoon, and shall be open not later than ten o'clock in the forenoon and shall be kept open at least ten hours.  In towns, at the election of town officers, the polls may be opened as early as fifteen minutes before six o'clock in the forenoon, and shall be opened as early as twelve o'clock, noon, and shall be kept open at least four hours, and until the time specified in the warrant when they may or will be closed; and in towns not voting by precincts they may be kept open for such longer time as the meeting shall direct. The selectmen in any town may provide that the hours during which the polls shall be open for the purpose of voting on a question to be submitted to the voters of said town shall be the same as the hours designated by said selectmen for the election of town officers. After an announcement has been made by the presiding officer of a time so fixed for closing the polls they shall not be closed at an earlier hour.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 66 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 66 - State Ballot Boxes; Use and Custody

Section 66. The state ballot boxes shall be used for receiving the ballots in state and city elections, and in town elections where official ballots are used. The election officers at each polling place shall, at the opening of the polls and before any ballots are received, publicly open the ballot box, and ascertain by personal examination, and publicly show, that the same is empty, and shall immediately thereafter lock or fasten the box. The clerk of the precinct, polling place or town shall make a record of the condition of the ballot box register and, if a key is used, it shall be retained by the police officer or constable at the polling place. The ballot box shall not, after it is shown to be empty, be removed from public view until all ballots have been removed therefrom and the box has been relocked or sealed. The ballot box shall not be opened nor any ballot removed therefrom until the polls are closed; but in order to make room for ballots, the presiding officer may, in the presence of all the election officers, open the box and pack and press down the ballots therein.  The presiding officer of each polling place shall have charge of the ballot box and ballot box seal, and shall, at the close of each election, return the same, either personally or by a police officer or constable in attendance at the polling place, to the city or town clerk.  Except as hereinafter provided, if it becomes impossible to use the state ballot box, the voting shall proceed in such manner as the presiding officer shall direct, and in such case the clerk shall record the reason why such ballot box is not used, and shall enclose an attested copy of such record in the envelope with the ballots cast. The provisions as to the use and custody of the state ballot box shall, so far as applicable, apply to the ballot box substituted therefor.  If it becomes impossible for voting to proceed because the ballot box is too full, the presiding officer, in the presence of a majority of the other election officers, shall open the ballot box, remove the ballots therefrom, without counting them, except that they may be divided into convenient packages, and shall place them in a container of fiber, wood, or metal. He shall then cause the container to be tied up lengthwise and crosswise with heavy twine securely tied, and the knot shall be sealed with stationer's sealing wax. Any election officer who so desires may affix his private seal to the container in such a way as to indicate later whether it has been opened. The container, with the uncounted ballots, shall not be removed from the polling place, but shall remain beside the ballot box, in full view of the voters and the election officers, until the polls close, when the container shall be opened in order to count the votes.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 67 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 67 - Voting Lists; Delivery and Use; Voting by Persons Not on List

[ Section impacted by 2020, 45, Secs. 1 and 1A, as amended by 2020, 92, Secs. 1 to 3, effective March 23, 2020, 2020, 92 Secs. 15 to 17 effective June 5, 2020, 2020, 115, Secs. 6 and 13, effective July 6, 2020 and 2021, 5, Secs. 1 and 2, effective March 16, 2021 and 2020, 255, effective December 31, 2020 as amended by 2021, 5, Secs. 4 to 8, effective March 16, 2021 and 2021, 29, Secs. 51 to 55, effective July 29, 2021, relating to elections in order to address disruptions caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.]  Section 67. One voting list shall be delivered to the ballot clerks and another to the officer in charge of the ballot box; except that, where voting machines are used, one voting list shall be delivered to the officer at the entrance to the space within the guard rail. When a ballot is delivered to a voter, his name shall be checked on the first voting list and, except where voting machines are used, it shall be checked on the second when he deposits his ballot. Except where voting machines are used, the officer in charge of the ballot box and the officer in charge of the voting list shall be of different political parties. No person shall vote if his name is not on the voting list, nor until the election officer shall check his name thereon, unless he presents a certificate from the registrars of voters as provided by section fifty-one or section fifty-nine of chapter fifty-one, or unless he is voting by provisional ballot under section 76C. A city or town may vote to use electronic poll books rather than paper voting lists in accordance with section 33I.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 67a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 67a - Additional State Ballot Boxes; Use in Towns

Section 67A. If the selectmen so vote, more than one state ballot box may be used at any polling place in any town at state elections and at town elections if official ballots are used therein. If more than one ballot box is to be used at any polling place as aforesaid, the voting lists for use thereat shall each be divided by the selectmen into as many sections as there are ballot boxes. Upon written request of the selectmen of a town for one or more additional ballot boxes for use as herein provided, the state secretary shall provide the same at the expense of such town.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 68 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 68 - Statements Made Before Public Declaration of Vote; Penalties

Section 68. No election officer shall, before the public declaration of the vote, make any statement of the number of ballots cast, the number of votes given for any person, the name of any person who has voted or whose name has not been checked, or of any other fact tending to show the state of the polls, except as expressly permitted by section one hundred and five and except that he shall when requested make a statement of the figures on the ballot box register, which statement shall not be considered an official declaration as to the state of the polls or of the number of ballots cast.  Any election officer who violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.
MA Gen L ch 54 § 69 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 54 - Elections|Section 69 - Persons Permitted Within Guard Rail

Section 69. No persons except the election officers, supervisors, custodians of voting machines when acting in the course of their duties, the city or town clerks, and voters admitted for the purpose of voting, shall, during the progress of an election and until the public declaration of the vote, be permitted within the guard rail, unless authorized by the election officers for the purpose of keeping order and enforcing the law. Children, in the company of a voter, may be admitted within the guardrail unless the election officer in charge deems that the admittance of such child would disrupt the maintenance of order.