reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 52 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 52 - Political Committees|Section 8 - Election of Existing Committees

Section 8. Each committee existing at the time when the party which it represents first polls for any office to be filled by all the voters of the commonwealth at a biennial state election three per cent of the entire vote cast in the commonwealth for that office, and each committee existing at the time when the party it represents first polls for mayor or a selectman at a city or town election at least three per cent of the entire vote cast in the city or town for that office, shall be deemed elected under this chapter, and shall be subject to its provisions.
MA Gen L ch 52 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 52 - Political Committees|Section 9 - Ward and Town Committees; Number of Members to Be Elected at Presidential Primaries; Notice

Section 9. Ward and town committees, respectively, shall fix the number of members of ward and town committees to be elected at the presidential primaries, not less than three nor more than thirty-five for each ward and each town. Notice of the number of committee members to be elected shall be given by the ward or town committee, as the case may be, to the state secretary on or before August first of the year preceding the year in which said persons are to be elected. In case a ward or town committee fails to fix the number of members of a ward or town committee or to give such notice, the number of members of such ward or town committee to be elected shall be the number of members last so fixed or assigned.
MA Gen L ch 52 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 52 - Political Committees|Section 10 - Rules and Regulations

Section 10. A state, city or town committee may make rules and regulations consistent with law, for its proceedings, and a state committee may make rules and regulations, consistent with law, for calling conventions.  [Chapter 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 relating to postponing municipal elections in order to address disruptions caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.]
MA Gen L ch 53 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 1 - Parties Entitled to Make Nominations

Section 1. At any primary, caucus or convention held under this chapter, each party having the right to participate in or hold the same may nominate as many candidates for each office for which it has the right to make nominations therein as there are persons to be elected to that office, and no more. A party which makes one or more nominations shall be entitled to have the name of each of its candidates printed on the ballot to be used at the ensuing election; but, unless the nomination is made by direct plurality vote in a primary or in several caucuses held in more than one ward or in more than one precinct or group of precincts, a certificate of nomination must be filed as provided in section five.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 2 - Nominations and Elections; Necessity; Procedure

Section 2. Except in the case of municipal nominations where a city charter or a law applying to a particular town otherwise provides and in the case of nominations to regional district school committees elected district-wide, candidates of political parties for all elective offices, except presidential elector, shall be nominated and members of political committees, except as provided in sections one and four of chapter fifty-two, shall be elected in primaries or caucuses; provided, however, that the state secretary shall not conduct presidential and state primaries in any biennial state election year for a political party which has enrolled fewer than five percent of the total number of registered voters in the commonwealth as of the most recent count submitted to the state secretary under section thirty-eight A, and whose state committee files with the state secretary a writing so requesting, not later than August first preceding a year in which a presidential primary is to occur and otherwise not later than February first of the year of the biennial state election. All nominations and elections in primaries and caucuses shall be by direct plurality vote. No candidates shall be nominated, and no member of a political committee or convention delegate elected, in any other manner than is provided in this chapter or chapter fifty-two.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 3 - Nomination of Person Not Printed on Primary Ballot; Acceptance; Statement of Financial Interest

Section 3. A person whose name is not printed on a state primary ballot as a candidate for an office, but who receives sufficient votes to nominate him therefor, shall, not later than five o'clock post meridian of the thirteenth day after a regular state primary and the sixth day after a special state primary, file in the office of the state secretary a written acceptance of said nomination and a receipt from the state ethics commission verifying the fact that a statement of financial interest has been filed under chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B. A person whose name is not printed on a city or town primary ballot, but who receives sufficient votes to nominate him, shall, within six days from the aforementioned time and day, file a written acceptance of said nomination in the office of the city or town clerk. The name of any such person who fails to file such written acceptance, and such receipt if required, shall not be printed on the official ballot to be used at the ensuing election. When such acceptance has been filed, it may not thereafter be withdrawn. This section shall be construed to provide that written acceptance of such a nomination at a primary shall be filed as aforesaid within the time herein limited, by any such person whose nomination is finally determined after the expiration of the time so limited, otherwise his name shall not be printed on the ballot at the ensuing election.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 4 - Conventions to Nominate Candidates; Dates

Section 4. No convention to nominate candidates shall be called for or held on a date earlier than four days after the holding of the caucuses for the choice of delegates thereto, and all such conventions shall be called for and held on a date not later than forty-eight hours prior to the hour for filing certificates of nomination as provided in section ten.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 5 - Certificate of Nomination; Contents; Signatures; Filing; Written Acceptance of Candidate

Section 5. Every certificate of nomination shall state such facts as are required by section eight and shall be signed and sworn to by the presiding officer and by the secretary of the caucus or convention, who shall add to their signatures their residences. The secretary shall within the seventy-two hours succeeding five o'clock in the afternoon of the day upon which the caucus was held or the session of the convention terminated, and within the time specified in section ten, file such certificate at the place specified in section nine.  No such certificate of nomination, except for presidential electors, shall be received or be valid unless the written acceptance of the candidates thereby nominated shall be filed therewith.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 7a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 7a - Nomination Papers for City Offices; Deadlines; Signatures; Certification and Checking

Section 7A. Except where otherwise provided by law, every nomination petition or other like paper of a candidate for a city office in a city wherein preliminary elections for the nomination of candidates for such office are held shall be submitted, on or before five o'clock in the afternoon of the fourteenth day preceding the day on which it must be filed, to the registrars of the city. In each case the registrars shall check each name to be certified by them on the nomination petition or other like paper and shall forthwith certify thereon the number of signatures so checked which are names of voters both in the city and in the district for which the nomination is made, and only names so checked shall be deemed to be names of qualified voters for the purposes of nomination. The registrars need not certify a greater number of names than are required to make a nomination, increased by one fifth thereof. Names not certified in the first instance shall not thereafter be certified on the same nomination petitions or other like papers.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 9 - Certificate of Nomination and Nomination Papers; Certification of Candidate as Registered Voter; Acceptance Procedure

Section 9. Certificates of nomination and nomination papers for state offices shall be filed with the state secretary and he shall forthwith issue to the candidate or other person filing the same a certificate acknowledging the time and date of the receipt thereof. Certificates of nomination or nomination papers for city and town offices shall be filed with the city or town clerk. Any candidate, including a candidate for presidential elector, not required by section forty-eight of this chapter to file a certificate of party enrollment shall, on or before the last day provided by law for filing nomination papers, file a certificate from the registrars of voters of the city or town wherein such candidate is a registered voter, certifying that such candidate is a registered voter in such city or town. Said registrars shall issue such a certificate forthwith upon request of any such candidate so registered or of his authorized representative. No nomination paper shall be received or be valid unless the written acceptance of the candidate thereby nominated shall be filed therewith. No nomination paper or certificate of nomination of a candidate for public office, as defined by chapter 268B, shall be accepted by the state secretary nor be valid unless accompanied by a receipt from the state ethics commission verifying the fact that a statement of financial interest has been filed pursuant to the provisions of said chapter 268B. No nomination paper for statewide elective office shall be received or be valid unless accompanied by a receipt from the director of campaign and political finance verifying the fact that the candidate has filed with said director the statement required by subsection (a) of section one A of said chapter 55C. The name of a candidate who fails to file any statement within the time required by said section one A shall not appear on the state primary or state election ballot.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 9a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 9a - Nomination Papers for Cities or Towns; Applicable Provisions

Section 9A. In any city or town which accepts this section, in a city by vote of the city council subject to the provisions of its charter, and in a town by vote of the town meeting, the following provisions shall apply with respect to nomination papers:—  The final date for obtaining blank nomination papers for nomination to city or town office shall be forty-eight week day hours prior to the hour on which nomination papers are required to be submitted to the registrars of voters for certification.  Each candidate shall file with the city or town clerk, prior to obtaining blank nomination papers, a statement containing his name and address, and the city or town office for which he intends to be a candidate.  No candidate for city or town office shall receive more blank nomination papers than will contain the number of signatures required to place his name in nomination, multiplied by five.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 11 - Certificates of Nomination and Nomination Papers; Objections; Filing

Section 11. When certificates of nomination and nomination papers have been filed, and are in apparent conformity with the law, they shall be valid unless written objections are made. Such objections shall be filed, as to state offices, with the state secretary, and, as to city or town offices, with the city or town clerk in accordance with the provisions of chapter fifty-five B.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 13 - Withdrawal of Nominated Candidates

Section 13. A person nominated as a candidate for any state, city or town office may withdraw his name from nomination by a request signed and duly acknowledged by him before a notary public, and filed with the officer with whom the nomination was filed, within the time prescribed by section eleven for filing objections to certificates of nomination and nomination papers and no such requests for withdrawals shall be received after such time has expired. A person nominated at a city or town preliminary election may withdraw his name from nomination in the same manner, within six days succeeding five o'clock in the afternoon of the day of holding such preliminary election. Unless otherwise provided by the city or town charter, such nominee shall be replaced by the candidate with the next highest number of votes in said preliminary, if such candidate receives a number of votes at least equal to the number of signatures required by law to place his name on the preliminary election ballot.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 15 - Certificate of Nomination to Fill Vacancy; Contents; Acceptance

Section 15. When a nomination is made to fill a vacancy caused by the death, withdrawal or ineligibility of a candidate, the certificate of nomination shall, in addition to the other facts required, state the name of the original nominee, the fact of his death, withdrawal or ineligibility, and the proceedings had for filling the vacancy; and the presiding officer and secretary of the convention or caucus, or the chairman and secretary of an authorized committee, shall sign and make oath to the truth of the certificate, and it shall be accompanied by the written acceptance of the candidate nominated. Such certificate shall be filed with the state secretary in the case of state elections and with the city or town clerk in city or town elections.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 16 - Certificates of Nomination, etc.; Public Inspection; Preservation

Section 16. Certificates of nomination, nomination papers, objections thereto and withdrawals, when filed, shall, under proper regulations, be open to public inspection, and the state secretary and the city and town clerks shall preserve the same in their offices for one year.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 17 - Blank Forms for Nominations

Section 17. The state secretary shall, upon application, provide blank forms for the nomination of candidates for all state offices; and he shall send blank forms for certificates of nomination for the office of representative in the general court to the clerk of each city and town for the use of any caucus or convention other than of political parties held therein for the nomination of candidates for that office. He shall likewise provide the clerks of towns wherein official ballots are used with blank forms for the nomination of candidates for town offices. In cities blank forms for the nomination of candidates for city offices shall be provided by the city clerk. The state secretary shall not supply candidates for town offices directly with blank forms for nomination. The city or town clerk shall not furnish blank forms for the nomination of candidates for city or town office to any person other than a candidate seeking such nomination or a person presenting the signed authorization of a candidate to secure said forms on his behalf. In no case shall any blank forms for such nominations be larger than eight and one half inches by fourteen inches, nor shall anyone be prohibited from making exact copies of such blanks provided by the secretary of state for the purpose of collecting signatures for such nominations, nor shall any such copies be rejected for certification or submittal to the secretary of state.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 17a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 17a - Procedure

Section 17A. Upon the filing of a petition with the chairman of the state committee of a political party, signed by fifty enrolled members of such party within a senatorial district, such chairman shall call a convention of all the ward and town committees in said senatorial district for the purpose of endorsing candidates from among the enrolled members of the party for nomination for election to membership on the state committee from said senatorial district.  Said convention shall be held not later than the tenth day prior to the time provided for the filing of nomination papers for said membership, and shall be held in the ward or town within the senatorial district which cast the highest vote at the preceding biennial state election for the political party candidate for governor.  Said convention shall elect from among its members a chairman and a secretary and shall make suitable rules for the conduct of its business. Each ward and town committee represented at such convention shall be entitled to one vote and one additional vote for every fifteen hundred votes or major fraction thereof above the first fifteen hundred votes cast at the preceding biennial state election in such ward or town for the political party candidate for governor.  Every certificate of nomination of a candidate endorsed for nomination by such a convention shall state that the nominee has been endorsed by such convention, and shall include such facts as are required by section eight. Such certificate shall be signed, sworn to and filed with the state secretary as required by section five.  Each candidate endorsed by such a convention shall not later than the last day and hour for filing nomination papers for said membership file with the state secretary his written acceptance of the nomination, otherwise his name shall not be printed on the ballot as a candidate for member of the state committee for which he was nominated. Such candidate may not withdraw such acceptance.
MA Gen L ch 53 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VIII - Elections|Chapter 53 - Nominations, Questions to Be Submitted to the Voters, Primaries and Caucuses|Section 18 - Proposed Amendments to Federal Constitution; Opinion of Voters Ascertained

Section 18. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth that the general court, when called upon to act upon a proposed amendment to the federal constitution, should defer action until the opinion of the voters of the commonwealth has been taken, as herein provided, relative to the wisdom and expediency of ratifying the same; therefore, if a proposed amendment to the federal constitution is duly submitted to the general court as provided in article five of the constitution of the United States, and is not ratified at the session at which it is submitted, there shall be submitted to all the voters of the commonwealth at the following state election, if such an election is to occur prior to the next regular session of the general court, otherwise at such special or regular state election as the general court may order, the question whether such ratification is desirable. The question shall be placed upon the official ballot in the following form: ''Is it desirable that the proposed amendment to the constitution of the United States (describing the same) be ratified by the general court?'' The votes cast shall be received, sorted, counted, declared and transmitted to the state secretary, laid before the governor and council, and by them opened and examined in accordance with the laws relating to votes for state officers so far as they are applicable, and the governor shall thereupon communicate to the general court the total number of votes cast in the affirmative and in the negative for the proposed amendment, and likewise the same totals arranged by senatorial and representative districts. This section shall not authorize the taking of the opinion of the voters more than once in respect to any such proposed amendment unless otherwise provided by the general court.