reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 43a § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 4 - Town Meeting Members; Election; Terms of Office

Section 4. Other than the officers designated in the by-laws of the town as town meeting members at large, the representative town meeting membership shall in each precinct consist of the largest number divisible by three which will admit of a representation thereof in the approximate proportion which the number of inhabitants therein bears to the total number of inhabitants in the town, and which will cause the total elected membership to be as nearly two hundred and forty as may be.  The registered voters in every precinct shall, at the first annual town election held after the establishment of such precinct, and the registered voters of any precinct affected by any revision of precincts at the first annual town election following such revision, conformably to the laws relative to elections not inconsistent with this chapter, elect by ballot the number of registered voters in the precinct, other than the officers designated in the by-laws as town meeting members at large, provided for in the first sentence of this section, to be town meeting members of the town. The first third, in the order of votes received, of members so elected shall serve three years, the second third in such order shall serve two years, and the remaining third in such order shall serve one year, from the day of the annual town meeting; in case of a tie vote affecting the division into thirds, as aforesaid, the members elected from the precinct shall by ballot determine the same; and thereafter, except as is otherwise provided herein, at each annual town election the registered voters of each precinct shall, in like manner, elect, for the term of three years, one third of the number of elected town meeting members to which such precinct is entitled, and shall at such election fill for the unexpired term or terms any vacancy or vacancies then existing in the number of elected town meeting members in such precinct.  The terms of office of all elected town meeting members from every precinct revised as aforesaid shall cease upon the election as hereinbefore provided of their successors. The town clerk shall, after every election of town meeting members, forthwith notify each such member by mail of his election.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 5 - Meetings; Quorum; Compensation of Members

Section 5. Any representative town meeting held under the provisions of this chapter, except as otherwise provided herein, shall be limited to the town meeting members elected under section four, together with such town meeting members at large as may be provided for by the by-laws of the town.  The town clerk shall notify the town meeting members of the time and place at which representative town meetings are to be held, the notices to be sent by mail at least seven days before the meeting. The town meeting members, as aforesaid, shall be the judges of the election and qualifications of their members. A majority of the town meeting members shall constitute a quorum for doing business; but a less number may organize temporarily and may adjourn from time to time, but no town meeting shall adjourn over the date of an election of town meeting members. All town meetings shall be public. The town meeting members as such shall receive no compensation. Subject to such conditions as may be determined from time to time by the members of the representative town meeting, any registered voter of the town who is not a town meeting member may speak at any representative town meeting, but shall not vote. A town meeting member may resign by filing a written resignation with the town clerk, and such resignation shall take effect on the date of such filing. A town meeting member who removes from the town shall cease to be a town meeting member, and a town meeting member who removes from the precinct from which he was elected to another precinct may serve only until the next annual town meeting.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 6 - Nominations

Section 6. Nomination of candidates for town meeting members to be elected under this chapter shall be made by nomination papers, which shall show clearly whether he has been a former town meeting member, and, if an elected incumbent of such office, that he is a candidate for re-election and shall bear no other political designation. Such papers shall be signed by not less than ten voters of the precinct in which the candidate resides, shall be filed with the town clerk at least ten days before the election or, in towns which have accepted section one hundred and three A of chapter fifty-four, within the time provided by section ten of chapter fifty-three. They shall be submitted to the registrars of voters and shall be certified in the manner provided in section seven of said chapter fifty-three; provided, however, that any town meeting member, including any town meeting member in office under the provisions of a special statute under which such town is operating immediately prior to the taking effect therein of the standard form of representative town meeting government provided by this chapter, may become a candidate for election by giving written notice thereof to the town clerk not later than twenty-one days prior to the last day and hour for filing nomination papers. If a town meeting member is a candidate for re-election, the words ''Candidate for Re-election'' shall be printed against his name as it appears on the ballot for the election of town officers; provided, that if a town meeting member who has been chosen by the remaining members from the precinct to fill a vacancy under the provisions of section nine is a candidate for election, the words ''Candidate for Re-election'' shall not be printed against his name as it appears on the ballot. No nomination papers shall be valid in respect to any candidate whose written acceptance is not thereon or attached thereto when filed.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 7 - Action on Articles in Warrant for Town Meeting

Section 7. The articles in the warrant for every town meeting, so far as they relate to the election of the moderator, town officers and town meeting members, and as herein provided, to referenda, and all matters to be acted upon and determined by ballot, shall be so acted upon and determined by the registered voters of the town in their respective precincts. All other articles in the warrant for any town meeting shall be acted upon and determined exclusively by town meeting members at a meeting to be held at such time and place as shall be set forth by the selectmen in the warrant for the meeting, subject to the referendum provided for by section ten.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 8 - Moderator; Tenure; Duties; Vacancies

Section 8. A moderator shall be elected by ballot at the annual town meeting when his term of office expires, for the term of one or three years, and shall serve as moderator of all town meetings, except as otherwise provided by law, until a successor is elected and qualified. Nominations for and election of a moderator shall be as in the case of other elective town officers, and any vacancy in the office may be filled by the town meeting members at a meeting held for that purpose. If a moderator is absent, a moderator pro tempore may be elected by the town meeting members.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 9 - Town Meeting Members; Vacancies

Section 9. Any vacancy in the full number of town meeting members from any precinct, whether arising from a failure of the registered voters thereof to elect, or from any other cause, may be filled, until the next annual election, by the remaining members of the precinct from among the registered voters thereof. Upon petition therefor, signed by not less than ten town meeting members from the precinct, notice of any vacancy shall promptly be given by the town clerk to the remaining members from the precinct in which the vacancy or vacancies exist, and he shall call a special meeting of such members for the purpose of filling such vacancy or vacancies. He shall cause to be mailed to every such member, not less than five days before the time set for the meeting, a notice specifying the object, time and place of the meeting. At the said meeting a majority of the members from such precinct shall constitute a quorum, and they shall elect from their own number a chairman and a clerk. The choice to fill any vacancy shall be by ballot, and a majority of the votes cast shall be required for a choice. The chairman and clerk shall count the ballots and shall make a certificate of the choice and forthwith file the same with the town clerk, together with a written acceptance by the member or members so chosen, who shall thereupon be deemed elected and qualified as a town meeting member of members, subject to the right of all the town meeting members to judge of the election and qualifications of the members as set forth in section five.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 10 - Enactments at Town Meetings; Restrictions

Section 10. A vote passed at any representative town meeting authorizing the expenditure of twenty thousand dollars or more as a special appropriation, or establishing a new board or office or abolishing an old board or office or merging two or more boards or offices, or fixing the term of office of town officers, where such term is optional, or increasing or reducing the number of members of a board, or adopting a new by-law, or amending an existing by-law, shall not be operative until after the expiration of seven days, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, from the dissolution of the meeting. If, within said seven days, a petition, signed by not less than three per cent of the registered voters of the town, containing their names and addresses as they appear on the list of registered voters, is filed with the selectmen asking that the question or questions involved in such a vote be submitted to the registered voters of the town at large, then the selectmen, after the expiration of five days, shall forthwith call a special meeting for the sole purpose of presenting to the registered voters at large the question or questions so involved. The polls shall be opened at two o'clock in the afternoon and shall be closed not earlier than eight o'clock in the evening, and all votes upon any questions so submitted shall be taken by ballot, and the check list shall be used in the several precinct meetings in the same manner as in the election of town officers. The questions so submitted shall be determined by a majority vote of the registered voters of the town voting thereon, but no action of the representative town meeting shall be reversed unless at least twenty per cent of the registered voters shall so vote. Each question so submitted shall be in the form of the following question, which shall be placed upon the official ballot:—''Shall the town vote to approve the action of the representative town meeting whereby it was voted (brief description of the substance of the vote and by what vote thereon if such vote was tabulated)?'' If such petition is not filed within said period of seven days, the vote of the representative town meeting shall become operative and effective upon the expiration of said period. Absent voter ballots shall be used at such election in accordance with the provisions of chapter fifty-four.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 11 - Authority of Town After Acceptance of Chapter; Effect of Actions Taken

Section 11. The town, after the acceptance of this chapter, shall continue to have the capacity to act through and to be bound by its town meeting members, who shall, when convened from time to time as herein provided, constitute representative town meetings; and the representative town meetings shall exercise exclusively, so far as will conform to the provisions of this chapter, all powers vested in the municipal corporation. Action in conformity with all provisions of law now or hereafter applicable to the transaction of town affairs in town meeting, shall, when taken by any representative town meeting in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, have the same force and effect as if such action had been taken in a town meeting open to all the voters of the town as organized and conducted before the establishment in said town of representative town meeting government.
MA Gen L ch 43a § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43a - Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government|Section 12 - General Meetings Authorized; Limitations of Chapter

Section 12. This chapter shall not abridge the right of the inhabitants of the town to hold general meetings, as secured to them by the constitution of this commonwealth; nor shall this chapter confer upon any representative town meeting in any town the power finally to commit the town to any measure affecting its municipal existence or substantially changing its form of government without action thereon by the voters of the town at large, using the ballot and the check list therefor.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 1 - Short Title; Definitions

Section 1. This chapter may be cited as the ''Home Rule Procedures Act.'' As used in this chapter, the terms ''board of registrars of voters'', ''city council'', and ''board of selectmen'' shall include any local authority of different designation performing like duties.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 2 - Adoption, Revision or Amendment of Existing Charter

Section 2. Every city and town shall have the power to adopt or revise its charter or to amend its existing charter in accordance with procedures prescribed by this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 3 - Petition for Adoption and Revision of Charter; Filing; Objections

Section 3. The adoption of a charter for any city or town under sections two and three of Article LXXXIX of the Amendments to the Constitution and the revision of any charter so adopted shall be initiated by filing with the board of registrars of voters of the city or town a petition signed by at least fifteen per cent of the number of registered voters residing in said city or town at the preceding state election. Such petition may consist of a number of separate sheets, but each sheet shall be in substantially the form prescribed therefor in section fifteen and shall be signed and completed in accordance with the instructions contained therein. The city or town clerk shall furnish forms for such petition to any registered voter of the city or town requesting the same. Within ten days from such filing, the board shall check each name to be certified by it on the petition, shall certify thereon the number of signatures so checked which are names of registered voters in the city or town, and shall report the results to the city council or board of selectmen, as the case may be, by filing its report with the city or town clerk. Only names so checked shall be deemed to be names of registered voters for purposes of such petition. The board need not certify more than one hundred and forty per cent of the number of names required to file a petition, and names not certified in the first instance shall not thereafter be certified on the same petition.  The sheets constituting a petition need not be filed at the same time. For the purposes of this section and of section three of said Article LXXXIX, such a petition shall be deemed to be filed whenever the persons responsible for its filing notify the board in writing that the filing is complete. Before receiving such notice, the board may, but shall not be required to, certify signatures on the sheets of the petition already filed.  Objections to the sufficiency and validity of the signatures on any such petition as certified by the board of registrars of voters shall be made in the same manner as provided by section seven of chapter fifty-five B, within two working days after the filing of the aforementioned certification report by the board.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 4 - Order of Governing Body for Submission of Question of Adoption or Revision of Charter; Nomination and Election of Charter Commission

Section 4. Within thirty days of receipt of certification by the board of registrars of voters that a petition contains sufficient valid signatures, the city council or board of selectmen shall by order provide for submitting the question of adopting or revising a charter to the voters of the city or town, and for the election of a charter commission, at the first regular city election, or at the first annual or biennial town meeting for the election of town officers, held on or after the sixtieth day following the adoption of the order. Said order shall also provide for the nomination of charter commission members, who shall be nominated in accordance with this chapter. Said order shall not require the concurrence of the mayor in a city and shall not be subject to referendum. If an order of the city council or board of selectmen under this section has not been adopted within the thirty days specified above, the question of adopting or revising a charter shall be submitted to the voters and charter commission members shall be elected at the first regular city election, or at the first annual or biennial town meeting for the election of town officers, held on or after the ninetieth day after receipt by the city council or board of selectmen of certification provided for in the first sentence of this section.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 5 - Charter Commission; Procedure for Nomination and Election of Members

Section 5. The signatures of the following number of registered voters shall be required to nominate charter commission members in cities or towns having the following number of inhabitants: two hundred such signatures if one hundred thousand or more inhabitants, one hundred such signatures if fifty thousand or more but less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, fifty such signatures if twelve thousand or more but less than fifty thousand inhabitants, twenty-five such signatures if six thousand or more but less than twelve thousand inhabitants and ten such signatures if less than six thousand inhabitants.  The last day for filing certified nomination papers for members of a charter commission with the city or town clerk shall be the thirty-fifth day preceding the date for their election. The manner of signing and the time for presenting nomination papers for certification to the board of registrars of voters, and the manner of and time for certifying the same, shall be governed by section seven of chapter fifty-three. Such nomination papers shall contain information with respect to candidates, except that no party or political designation shall be used, and shall be filed with the city or town clerk by a responsible person and accompanied by the candidate's acceptance, all as provided by and subject to the provisions of sections eight and nine of chapter fifty-three applicable to the nomination of officers for such city or town. Objections to the sufficiency and validity of the signatures on any nomination paper as certified by the board of registrars of voters shall be made and disposed of in the manner provided by sections eleven and twelve of chapter fifty-three, or by special law applicable to the city or town.  Upon application made by any city or town clerk, the state secretary shall provide him with blank forms for the nomination of charter commission members in such city or town. The city and town clerks shall supply such forms only to candidates or to persons authorized in writing by a candidate to obtain said forms in his behalf. One copy of a voting list shall be furnished to each candidate by the city or town clerk upon request. Except as provided in this section, the provisions of sections one to twelve, inclusive, and section seventeen of chapter fifty-three shall not apply to the nomination of charter commission members.
MA Gen L ch 43b § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43b - Home Rule Procedures|Section 6 - Charter Commission; Number of Members; Election

Section 6. A charter commission shall consist of nine registered voters of the city or town elected at large and by official ballot, without party or political designation, at an election held in accordance with this chapter. The names of the candidates nominated in accordance with section five shall be placed on such ballot in alphabetical order, preceded by an instruction to the effect that a voter may vote for not more than nine persons as charter commission members whether or not he favors the election of a charter commission. The question of electing a commission to adopt or revise the charter shall be placed on such ballot in the form prescribed by the constitution.  If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of adopting or revising the charter is in the affirmative, the nine candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected.  If a majority of the votes cast upon the question is in the affirmative, the city or town clerk shall notify the director of housing and community development of such affirmative vote and said director shall notify such commission of the dates for submission of their reports and the available date or dates that such report can be placed on its ballots.