reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42c - Registration Sessions in High Schools and Vocational Schools

Section 42C. In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, voter education and voluntary registration sessions shall be held by the registrars, assistant registrars or election commissioners one day each year between the first day of April and the fifteenth day of May in each public, private and vocational high school in their cities and towns. Said sessions shall take place as part of an educational assembly for all seniors.
A registrar or assistant registrar at a session held pursuant to the provisions of this section may receive affidavits of registration from registrants who reside in any other city or town of the commonwealth. The registrars shall forthwith transmit any such completed affidavits of registration to the registrars of the city or town where the registrant claims to reside, and said registrars shall receive such affidavits as provided in sections forty-six to forty-seven B, inclusive.
This section shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42d - Registration Sessions in Regional High Schools, Colleges or Universities

Section 42D. The registrars or election commissioners may hold registration sessions in any regional high school, college or university, in any city or town in the commonwealth where there are persons entitled to be registered in their city or town who are regularly gathered there by reason of education or employment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42e - Voter Registration Affidavit Forms for College, High School and Vocational School Students

Section 42E. All public and independent colleges, universities, high schools and vocational schools shall make available affidavit of voter registration forms at all locations where students may register for classes. Such locations shall be published along with the annual course listing for students or in some other schoolwide publication. Every such school shall publicize the availability of such voter registration affidavit forms within the school.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42f - Affidavits of Registration From Registrants Residing in Other Cities or Towns

Section 42F. At every registration session held pursuant to this chapter, a registrar or assistant registrar shall receive affidavits of registration from registrants who reside in any other city or town of the commonwealth. The registrars shall forthwith transmit any such completed affidavits of registration to the registrars of the city or town where such registrant claims to reside, and said registrars shall receive such affidavits as provided in sections forty-six to forty-seven B, inclusive. All registration agencies shall use the registration affidavit form prescribed by the state secretary under section thirty-six.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42g - Transmission of Completed Affidavits to City or Town Where Registrant Resides; Cooperative Agreements

Section 42G. (a) Registration agencies required to provide voter registration services by section 1 of chapter 50 shall conduct voter registration in a manner that is as efficient, comprehensive and automated as practicable. Registration agencies shall transmit each completed affidavit of voter registration to the board of registrars or election commission of the city or town where the registrant resides; provided, however, that an automatic voter registration agency that collects and transmits applicant data electronically shall ensure that the applicant data is transmitted to the state secretary, who shall transmit such information to the board of registrars or election commission of the city or town where the applicant resides. The state secretary shall adopt regulations governing such transmission, which shall include, but not be limited to: (i) provisions requiring electronic transmission; (ii) the frequency and nature of such transmissions; (iii) data security protocols; and (iv) integration with the online portals established pursuant to section 33A. A registrant shall be deemed to be a registered voter at the time of completion of a signed affidavit of voter registration at a registration agency or on the date that the affidavit of voter registration is postmarked or on the day that it is delivered by hand to the registrars.
(b) The state secretary shall enter into cooperative agreements with additional agencies of state government that agree to function as registration agencies. Such agreements shall provide that the state secretary shall conduct appropriate training of agency staff, provide all forms, material and equipment necessary to carry out voter registration activities, and have oversight responsibility to ensure proper compliance with applicable provisions of federal and state law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42h - Receipt of Completed Affidavit by Registrar

Section 42H. Registrars of voters in cities and towns shall receive completed affidavits of voter registration from registration agencies, from individuals and organizations conducting voter registration, through the United States mail, through the online portal and by hand delivery. Upon receipt of each completed affidavit, the registrars shall certify the receipt thereof and shall notify the registrant of the disposition of the affidavit. Said registrars shall add the registrant's name, address and effective date of registration to the annual register of voters in accordance with section forty-six, effective at the time set forth in section forty-two G; provided, however, that the state secretary may, by regulation adopted pursuant to section forty-seven C, provide that electronic transmission alone of the information contained in the affidavit of registration shall be sufficient for such purpose. The registrars may correct information supplied by the registrant to the extent necessary to maintain the integrity of their records. If an affidavit is incomplete or if it appears from the facts set forth in the affidavit that the registrant is not qualified to register as a voter, the registrars shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of section forty-seven. If an affidavit is dated by the registration agency or postmarked during the period when registration to qualify as a voter in a particular election is prohibited by section twenty-six, the registrant's name shall be added to the annual register for all subsequent elections and the registrars shall so notify such registrant. All records of voter registration held by registration agencies shall be available for inspection and copying by the registrars of the registrant's city or town or by summons in a legal proceeding.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 44 - Completion of Affidavit of Voter Registration Form

Section 44. A person seeking to register shall complete an affidavit of voter registration form as prescribed in section thirty-six, and shall sign the affidavit under the penalty of perjury. A person registering as a voter may, at the same time, establish his enrollment in a political party or political designation, as provided in section thirty-eight of chapter fifty-three, by indicating his desire to be so enrolled on the affidavit of voter registration. The affidavit of any person who provides the registrars with a copy of a court order granting protection, or evidence of residence in a protective shelter, or an affidavit signed by a chief of police or his designee that said person is entitled to have certain information withheld from the public under section 24C of chapter 265, or a program participant in the address confidentiality program established under section 2 of chapter 9A shall not be a public record.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 46 - Affidavit of Registration; Filing; Addition of Voter's Name to Annual Register

Section 46. Upon receipt of a completed affidavit of registration, the registrars shall, except as provided in section forty-seven, place said affidavit in their files and add the name of the voter to the current annual register of voters in the city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 46a - Transmittal of Duplicate Certificate of Registration to Place of Voter's Last Registration

Section 46A. Except as provided in section forty-seven, the registrars, upon receipt of an affidavit of registration, shall transmit a duplicate copy thereof to the registrars in the city or town where the person last registered to vote, if within the commonwealth, or to the state secretary of the state where the person last registered to vote, if the person had indicated that his previous residence was in that state.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 47 - Rejection of Defective Affidavit of Registration; Notices to Person Named

Section 47. If, after examination of an affidavit of registration, it appears to the registrars from the facts set forth in the affidavit that the person is not qualified to be registered as a voter or that the affidavit is incomplete, they may decline to enter his name on the annual register. The registrars shall notify any person whose name is not so entered and give him a reasonable opportunity to remedy the defects in his affidavit. If the registrars are still not satisfied that the affidavit meets the requirements of this chapter, they shall not accept it and shall forthwith inform the person thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 47a - Pre-Registration of Persons Having Obtained the Age of 16

Section 47A. If, after examination of an affidavit of registration, it appears to the registrars that the person has all the qualifications to be registered as a voter except that of age and the person has obtained the age of 16, then they shall enter the person's name in the current annual register of voters with the designation ''pre-registrant'' or other term or code as specified by the state secretary. The designation shall be removed when the person, on or before the day of the next preliminary, primary, special or general election or town meeting, attains full age. No pre-registrant shall be allowed to vote until the pre-registrant obtains full age unless otherwise permitted by law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 47b - False Statements in Affidavit of Registration; Complaint and Summons; Examination of Qualifications

Section 47B. If at any time subsequent to the registration of a voter the registrars have probable cause to believe that the voter has made a false statement in his affidavit of registration, they may prepare a complaint setting forth the basis for their belief, and summon the voter to appear before them in the manner set forth in section forty-eight. They shall examine the voter and determine his qualifications to vote in the manner set forth in section forty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 47c - Central Registry of Voters; Agreement With Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc.

Section 47C. Subject to appropriation, the state secretary shall maintain a central registry of voters which shall contain, if provided by the registrars, the names, addresses and effective dates of registration of all registered voters in the commonwealth and which shall contain the name, date of birth, occupation, veteran status, nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, for street list purposes only, and residence on January first in the preceding year and in the current year, of every person three years of age or older in the commonwealth, and shall adopt regulations governing the operation of said central registry. The names and addresses contained in said central registry shall not be a matter of public record; provided however, that they shall be available to state party committees, statewide candidate committees, state ballot question committees, the jury commissioner, adjutant general and any other individual, agency or entity that the state secretary shall designate by regulation consistent with the purposes of this section, at a fair and reasonable cost not to exceed the cost of printing or preparing computer readable documents.
The state secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. on behalf of the commonwealth that shall specify the terms and conditions of the commonwealth's membership in the Center. The agreement shall include terms providing for the periodic sharing of data between the central registry, the registry of motor vehicles and any other automatic voter registration agency as designated by the secretary, and the Center, including, but not limited to, voter names and addresses.
To the extent feasible, the state secretary shall make the statewide list of registered voters contained in the central registry of voters established in this section available to the local election officers at each polling location.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 48 - Complaint; Time for Filing; Summons and Service of Process

Section 48. Upon complaint signed and sworn to by a registered voter and filed with the registrars at least fourteen days in a city, or at least four days in a town, before a primary, election or town meeting, stating that the complainant has reason to believe and does believe that a certain person by him therein named has been illegally or incorrectly registered, and giving the reasons for such belief, the registrars shall examine into such complaint and, if satisfied that there is sufficient ground therefor, they shall summon the person complained of to appear before them at a certain place and time before the next primary or election or town meeting to answer to the matters set forth in the complaint, and the substance of the complaint and a copy of this section and of section forty-nine shall be set forth in the summons. Service of the summons shall be made by an officer qualified to serve civil or criminal process, not more than fourteen nor less than two days before the day named for appearance, by delivering in hand a copy of the summons to the person therein named, or by leaving it at his place of residence, or, if personal service cannot be made and the person's residence is unknown to the officer and cannot be ascertained by inquiry at the place of alleged illegal or incorrect residence or at any later residence of such person appearing on the register, then at such person's last residence, if any, known to the officer, or, if the person's last residence is unknown, at the last place appearing as his residence in the register. The officer shall return the summons to the registrars before the day named for appearance with the certificate of his doings endorsed thereon.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 49 - Examination of Persons Summoned; Status for Annual Register; Failure to Appear

Section 49. If a person summoned before the registrars to answer such complaint appears before them, they shall examine him on oath, and shall receive such other evidence which may be offered in regard to the matters set forth in the complaint and, if satisfied that he is properly registered as a qualified voter, they shall enter in the register a statement of their determination of the facts required for registration. If the registrars are satisfied that he is not a qualified voter, they shall strike his name from the register. If they are satisfied that, although he is a qualified voter in the city or town, he is illegally or incorrectly registered in a ward or voting precinct other than the ward or voting precinct in which he is required by section three to be registered, and have determined the ward or voting precinct in which he is so required to be registered, and his place of residence therein, they shall change his place of residence as given on the register accordingly. If a person duly summoned as aforesaid does not appear as directed in the summons and the complainant produces sufficient testimony to make out a prima facie case, the name of such person shall be struck from the register; but if such person appears before the registrars before the election or town meeting following and shows sufficient cause for his failure earlier to appear, the hearing shall be reopened and the matter decided on its merits, as determined from the evidence presented on both sides. The complainant and the person complained of may be represented by counsel, and all witnesses may be cross-examined.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 50 - Supplementary Registration

Section 50. Any legal resident of the commonwealth who was included in the definition of ''Specially qualified voter'' in section one of chapter fifty throughout the seven days immediately preceding the final time for registration under section twenty-six, or who becomes a citizen of the United States after the final time for registration under said section twenty-six, may appear before a registrar or assistant registrar of voters of the city or town of his legal residence, during regular business hours of any day following the final day for registration before a primary or election, as fixed by said section twenty-six, and, in accordance with this chapter, register as a voter; provided, however, that he so appears prior to four o'clock post meridian on the day preceding a primary, preliminary election or election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 51 - Certificate of Supplementary Registration; Voting Thereon

Section 51. To every person registered under section fifty the registrars shall issue a certificate, similar to that provided for in section fifty-nine, entitled ''Supplementary Registration—Specially Qualified Voter'', and referring by chapter and section number to this section and section fifty. Upon presentation of such certificate to the presiding officer at the proper polling place, or, in the case of an absent voter, if such certificate is attached to the voting lists, such person shall have the same right to vote as any other registered voter. Except in the case of an absent voter, after such person has voted, the presiding officer shall attach the certificate to the voting list and it shall be considered a part thereof, and shall be returned to the registrars and preserved in accordance with law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 51a - Confidential Registration Certificate

Section 51A. To every person whose affidavit of voter registration is not a public record, and whose name and address do not appear on the annual register pursuant to sections thirty-seven and forty-four, the registrars shall issue a certificate entitled ''Confidential Registration'', similar to that provided for in section fifty-nine. Upon presentation of such certificate to the presiding officer at the proper polling place or, in the case of an absent voter, if such certificate is attached to the voting lists, such person shall have the same right to vote as any other registered voter. Except in the case of an absent voter, after such person has voted, the presiding officer shall attach the certificate to the voting list and it shall be returned to the registrars. Any such certificate shall not be a public record and no person shall make any statement or give any information in regard thereto, except as required by law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 52a - Solicitation of Votes and Distribution of Campaign Literature in Registration Offices Prohibited; Penalties

Section 52A. No candidate for public office, or any person acting on behalf of a candidate, shall solicit votes or distribute campaign literature in any office where registration of voters is being conducted. Whoever violates this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year in a house of correction or by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 53 - Police Assistance at Meetings

Section 53. The board of police or officer in charge of the police force of a city or town shall, when requested by the registrars, detail a sufficient number of police officers to attend any meeting held by a registrar in the performance of his duties, and to preserve order and enforce his directions.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 54 - Supervisors of Registration; Appointment; Duties; Interference With Supervisors; Penalties

Section 54. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall, on the petition of not less than ten qualified voters of a city or town, appoint for a term of one year two supervisors of registration for each place of registration therein, one from each of the two leading political parties. They shall attend all sessions or meetings for registration held at the places for which they are appointed, and either of them may attach to any book or papers there used for purposes of registration any statement touching the truth or fairness of the proceedings which he may deem proper, and may add thereto his signature or other marks for the purpose of identification.
Whoever interferes with, or aids or abets any person in interfering with, any supervisor of registration in the performance of his duty, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 55 - Preparation of Voting Lists; Contents and Arrangement; Distribution; Revisions

Section 55. Registrars shall, from the names entered in the annual register and from the names maintained on the inactive voters list, prepare voting lists for use at elections; provided, however, that such registrars shall not enter the names of women voters in separate columns or lists. In such voting lists, such registrars shall place the names of all voters entered on the annual register and those maintained on the inactive voters list and opposite to the name of each his residence and party enrollment. The registrars shall maintain separate voting lists for active and inactive voters or one voting list if inactive voters are designated as such on the voting list. In cities they shall prepare such voting lists by wards, and if a ward or town is divided into voting precincts, they shall prepare the same by precincts. In all such cities and in towns having five thousand or more inhabitants, the voting lists shall be arranged by streets in alphabetical order, and the names of the voters on each street shall be arranged in the numerical order of the street numbers of their residences, so far as possible. All first voting lists shall be printed and available for public distribution not later than the first day of July in state election years. A sufficient number of voting lists shall be printed so that they can be furnished free of charge, upon request, to all duly organized political committees, and to all political candidates for public office in the various districts in which the city or town is located and for a reasonable fee, not to exceed the cost of printing such list, to any person upon request. Names shall be added thereto or taken therefrom as persons are found to be qualified or not qualified to vote. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the voting lists to be used at presidential primaries or any primary or election held prior to July first in any year may be that of the year preceding, revised as aforesaid.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 57 - Posting of Lists; Copies for State Political Committees

Section 57. They shall, at least twenty days before the annual or biennial city or town election, and except in Boston, at least sixty days before the biennial state election, cause copies of the voting lists provided for in the two preceding sections to be posted in their principal office and in one or more other public places in the city or town, and in each ward of a city and in each precinct of a town. Upon application made by any state political committee organized in accordance with law, the clerk of the board of registrars shall furnish to it a copy of the voting list free of charge.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 58 - New Names Added to Lists; Distribution of Copies; Posting or Publication

Section 58. If a new name is added to the annual register after the voting lists have been posted, registrars shall cause it to be added to the lists posted in their principal office; provided, however, that all registrars shall maintain lists of new names added to the annual registers subsequent to the last posting of the voting lists and such lists shall contain in addition to the names, the addresses, wards and precincts, if any, and party designations, if any, of the newly registered voters; and, provided further, that all registrars shall provide copies of such lists to all duly organized political committees, and to all political candidates for public office in the various districts in which the city or town is located, and, for a reasonable fee, not to exceed the cost of printing or copying such list, to any other person upon request. If a city or town shall authorize the registrars to publish the names added to the register, they may, instead of posting them, cause all additional names to be printed in a newspaper published in the city or town, if any, otherwise in a newspaper published in the county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 59 - Certificate in Case of Omissions or Clerical Errors; Voting Procedure

Section 59. Whenever the name of a voter, appearing at a polling place to vote in a primary, caucus or election or preliminary election, does not appear on a voting list prepared as required by section fifty-five or in whose name or residence, as placed on such list, a clerical error has been made, the presiding officer shall attempt to identify such voter and his right to vote at such polling place by consulting the inactive voters list, which list the registrars of voters shall make available at the polling place for this purpose and then, if necessary, by communicating with the board of registrars by telephone or other means at his disposal. If the presiding officer is then satisfied that such voter is entitled to vote, he shall issue a certificate in a form supplied by the registrars, stating the name, residence and party enrollment, if any, of the voter so identified, and such certificate shall be signed by such presiding officer. The certificate shall be attached to and be considered part of the voting list, returned and preserved therewith, and such voter shall be allowed to vote.
Whenever the presiding officer, after a reasonable attempt, is unable to identify a voter whose name does not appear on the voting list, such voter may request permission to vote from the registrars of voters. If said registrars find that the name of such voter has been omitted from the voting list, or a clerical error has been made in his name or residence, as placed on such list, the registrars shall issue a certificate of name, residence and party enrollment, if any, as stated on the annual register, signed by a majority of the registrars. On presentation thereof to the presiding officer of the polling place in which the voter was registered, or is authorized to vote, such voter shall be allowed to vote, and his name shall be checked on the certificate, which shall be attached to and considered a part of the voting list and returned and preserved therewith; provided, however, that if such voter desires to vote at the office of the city or town clerk or election commissioners, an absentee ballot shall be issued to such voter, who shall mark it and enclose it in an absentee ballot envelope, together with the certificate. The clerk or commissioner shall then mark on the envelope ''Listing Error'', and as soon as practicable shall transmit such envelope to the proper polling place. Such ballot shall be cast and counted as if the voter had appeared personally, and the certificate shall be attached to and considered part of the voting list. The envelopes shall be preserved in the same manner as other absentee ballot envelopes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 60 - Voting Lists for Use at Polls

Section 60. Before every election and meeting in a city or town at which voting lists may be required to be used, the registrars shall prepare such lists for each ward, voting precinct, polling place or town in which such election or meeting is being held, containing the names and residences of all persons qualified to vote therein, as the same appear upon the annual register, and shall seasonably transmit the same to the election officers in every such ward, voting precinct, polling place or town. Such registrars shall also make available at such locations the inactive voters list. Such voting lists shall be in duplicate for all elections and meetings at which duplicate lists are required to be used.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 61 - Certification of Registered Voters

Section 61. They shall forthwith, after the final day for registration before a biennial state or regular city or town election, certify to the state secretary the number of registered voters in the city or town, and in each ward and precinct therein.
In cities where the city clerk is not a member of the board of registrars, the registrars shall likewise, after the last day for registration for a city election, certify to the city clerk the number of registered voters in the city, and in each ward and voting precinct therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 62 - Certified Copies for Use at Caucus; Party Enrollment Designations

Section 62. When a caucus is called, the registrars, on the request of the chairman of the ward or town committee of the party whose caucus is to be held or of the person designated to call the caucus to order, shall furnish him for use in the caucus a certified copy of the last published voting list of the town, or of the ward of the city for which the caucus is to be held, adding thereto the names of voters registered since such publication. Said lists, if intended for use in the caucus of a political party, shall contain the party enrollment of voters whose names appear thereon established as provided in sections thirty-seven and thirty-eight of chapter fifty-three.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 63 - Lists Furnished for New Wards and Voting Precincts

Section 63. After the biennial state election in nineteen hundred and forty-four, and in every tenth year thereafter for the purpose of furnishing the information necessary for a new division of a city into wards and voting precincts and of a town of twelve thousand inhabitants or over, which has been divided into voting precincts, into new voting precincts, the registrars shall deliver to the clerk of each city and of each such town, on or before the first Tuesday after the said election, a list of all voters therein who were registered for such election, which shall be so arranged as to show the number of voters residing in each ward or in each precinct, as the case may be, by streets. The registrars shall likewise in any other year, upon the request of the aldermen in cities or of the selectmen in such towns, furnish, for the purpose of dividing a ward into voting precincts or, unless otherwise prohibited by law, of dividing any such town into new voting precincts, a list of the voters of any ward in a city or of any precinct in such town, arranged as aforesaid.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 64 - Online Portal for Verification of Registration or Pre-Registration Status

Section 64. The state secretary shall create and maintain an online portal through which a person, including those who have pre-registered pursuant to section 47A, may check to determine whether that person is registered or pre-registered to vote. The portal shall allow a person to enter the person's name, date of birth and residential zip code. The portal shall subsequently display whether a voter with that name, date of birth and residential zip code is registered or pre-registered to vote, whether the registration of the voter is active or inactive pursuant to section 37A, the polling location for the voter and state and federal elected officials who represent the voter. The portal shall not display any other biographical information about the voter except the information provided by the user of the site. If there is no voter in the central registry of voters matching the information submitted to the portal or if the voter's registration is inactive, the website shall inform the user how the user may obtain a voter registration form or restore the user's registration to active status.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 66 - Provision of Data to State Secretary for Maintenance of Voter Lists; Provision of Data to Electronic Registration Information Center, inc.; Centralized Data Management

Section 66. The registry of motor vehicles, and any other state agency, shall provide data, as deemed necessary by the state secretary, for the purposes of maintaining accurate and complete voter lists. Not less than every 2 months, the registry of motor vehicles, and any other state agency the state secretary designates, shall electronically transmit to the state secretary all data, as directed by the state secretary, that is relevant to the purposes of voter registration, including, if available, the following record fields: (i) name, current address, mailing address, date of birth, driver's license number or last 4 digits of the social security number and telephone number; (ii) date, time and nature of the last change to the information; and (iii) any additional information designated by the state secretary for such purposes and reasonably related to maintaining accurate and complete voter lists.
The state secretary shall provide the names and addresses and other data contained in the central registry of voters, as well as information received from the registry of motor vehicles and any other agency received for the purpose of maintaining accurate and complete voting lists, to the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc.
The state secretary shall implement, if practicable, a centralized system to manage and evaluate data received from the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. to send mailings to voters centrally rather than from the local level. In the absence of such central management, if any actions regarding possibly inaccurate information in the central registry requires any action by the registrars, the secretary shall provide any such information to the registrars in electronic form and in a manner minimizing data management at the local level.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 52 - Political Committees › Section 2 - Ward and Town Committees; Elections; Terms

Section 2. Each political party shall, in every ward and town, elect at the presidential primaries a ward or town committee from among the members of the party who either have enrolled on or before the ninetieth day prior to the last day for filing nomination papers for such committees with the state secretary, or are newly registered voters in their city or town enrolled in that political party and have not been enrolled in another political party during the year preceding such last day for filing nomination papers. Ward and town committee members shall hold office for a period of four years ending on the thirtieth day following the day on which the presidential primaries are next held and until their successors shall have organized. If any member changes his residence from the ward or town in which he was elected during the said four years, he shall cease to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which said residence is changed. If any member, whether elected or chosen to fill a vacancy, cancels or changes his party enrolment he shall forthwith cease to be a member of said committee.
For the purposes of this chapter, notwithstanding the fact that ward lines in a city have been redistricted subsequent to a presidential primary, members of ward committees elected from wards in existence at the time of a presidential primary shall continue to represent said wards until their successors shall have been elected and organized under the redistricted ward lines at the presidential primary next following said redistricting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 52 - Political Committees › Section 4 - City, Ward and Town Committees; Organization; Failure to Elect or Organize

Section 4. Each city, ward and town committee shall within ten days after the thirtieth day next following the election of its members, meet and organize by the choice of a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as it may decide to elect; provided that members of said committee elected in nineteen hundred and seventy-six shall meet and organize within ten days after May fifteenth, nineteen hundred and seventy-six. At such meeting a ward or town committee may add to its elected members; provided, that by so doing the total number of members shall not be made to exceed the number determined under section nine. Ward and town committees may appoint associate members by vote at any meeting. Associate members shall not have the right to vote but shall have such other powers and duties as the ward or town committee may determine. In case there is a failure of election of a ward or town committee, the city committee or the state committee, respectively, of the political party which said ward or town committee represents shall appoint from among the voters qualified therefor the members of such committee and shall call a meeting for its organization, in such call appointing a time for holding the same and naming a person to preside thereat. If a ward committee or a city or town committee fails to meet within the time prescribed by this section and organize, the city committee or the state committee, respectively, of the political party which such ward, city or town committee represents shall call a meeting for its organization, in such call appointing a time for holding the same and naming a person to preside thereat. In the event that a ward or town committee fails to meet at the time appointed as aforesaid and organize, the election of each of its members shall be void and the same proceedings shall be had as is herein provided in the case of a failure of election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 52 - Political Committees › Section 5 - Lists of Officers, Members and Associate Members; Acceptance of Office of Treasurer; Filing

Section 5. The secretary of each city, ward and town committee shall, within ten days after its organization, file with the state secretary, with the city or town clerk and with the secretary of the state committee of the political party which it represents, a list of the officers and members of the committee, together with the addresses of such officers. In the case of a city, the secretary of each ward committee shall also file a copy of such list within such time with the chairman of the city committee of the political party which it represents. Within a like period after the appointment of associate members, said secretary shall likewise file a list of such associate members. The treasurer of such committee shall qualify for his office by filing a written acceptance thereof with the director of campaign and political finance, as provided in section five of chapter fifty-five. The secretary of such committee shall file with the director of the office of campaign and political finance a list of the officers of the committee, together with the addresses of such officers, within ten days after organization of such committee, or within ten days, of any change in the list of officers of such committee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 52 - Political Committees › Section 6 - Vacancies

Section 6. A vacancy in the office of chairman, secretary or treasurer or in any other office, notice of the filling of which must be filed under the provisions of section five, of a city, ward or town committee or in the membership of a ward or town committee shall be filled by such committee from among the enrolled members of the party resident in such city, ward or town, and a statement of any such change shall be filed as in the case of the officers and members first chosen. If any member shall change his residence from the city, ward or town in which he was chosen to fill said vacancy, he shall cease to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which said residence is changed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 52 - Political Committees › Section 7 - Disposition of Funds Upon Redivision of City Into Wards

Section 7. Upon the redivision of a city into wards the treasurer of each ward committee of a ward affected by such redivision shall, before the termination of office of the members thereof, pay over to the treasurer of the city committee representing the same political party such funds of the ward committee as he has in his possession after paying all bills. In the statements required under section seventeen of chapter fifty-five, the treasurer of the ward committee making such payment shall report it as a disbursement and the treasurer of the city committee receiving it shall report it as a receipt.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.