reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 4 - Computation of Time; Filing

Section 4. In computing the period of time prescribed in any statute relating to primaries, caucuses or elections, Sundays and holidays shall generally be included; but when the last day of such period falls on a Sunday or on a holiday, the following day shall be considered the final day of such period; and when the first day of such period falls on a Sunday or on a holiday, the day preceding shall be considered the first day of the period. Whenever the day designated for a primary, caucus or election is a holiday, said primary, caucus or election shall be held on the following day.
Except as otherwise provided by section thirty-eight of chapter fifty-three, all certificates of nomination, nomination papers, and other papers pertaining to primaries and elections, required by law to be filed on or before a specified day, shall be filed no later than five o'clock in the afternoon on said day.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 5 - Posting of Lists, Notices, and Copies of Laws

Section 5. All lists, notices and copies of laws relating to primaries or elections, required to be posted, shall be posted at the same places with the voting lists, or as near as may be thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 6 - Laws Relating Particularly to Any City or Town

Section 6. Laws from time to time in force relating particularly to any city or town shall prevail where they are in conflict with the provisions of chapters fifty-one to fifty-seven, inclusive; but, except as otherwise provided by any such law, said chapters and all other statutes in any way concerning the right to vote at primaries, caucuses or elections, or its exercise, or matters incidental thereto, shall apply to such city or town, in addition to the laws particularly applicable thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 6a - Vacancies in Elective Offices Caused by Retirement; Notice

Section 6A. If an elected state, city, or town officer is to be retired on or before the next regular election by reason of superannuation before the completion of the term of office to which he was elected, thereby causing a vacancy in said office, such vacancy shall be filled at said regular election as provided by law for such office.
The retiring authority shall notify the county commissioners, mayor and aldermen in cities, or the selectmen in towns, as the case may be, of the impending retirement of such elected officer at least six months preceding the next state, city, or town election, as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 7 - Ballot Boxes; Seals; Counting and Other Apparatus; Regulations

Section 7. A city or town clerk may make regulations consistent with law relative to the use of ballot boxes and seals, counting and other apparatus, the receiving of ballots and the counting and returning of votes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 50 - General Provisions Relative to Primaries, Caucuses and Elections › Section 8 - Criminal Prosecutions; Presumptions

Section 8. In any criminal prosecution for the violation of any law relating to the listing of persons seventeen years of age and over and to the qualification or registration of voters, to voting lists or ballots or matters pertaining thereto, or to primaries, caucuses or elections or matters pertaining thereto, the presumption shall be that every proceeding or official act was valid, regular and formal; but evidence may be introduced either to rebut or support the presumption. As to an alleged election or primary, the testimony of the city or town clerk, and as to an alleged caucus, the testimony of the residing officer, secretary or clerk thereof, that such election, primary or caucus was held, shall be prima facie evidence that the same was regularly and duly held.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 1 - Qualifications of Voters

Section 1. Every citizen eighteen years of age or older, not being a person under guardianship or incarcerated in a correctional facility due to a felony conviction, and not being temporarily or permanently disqualified by law because of corrupt practices in respect to elections, who is a resident in the city or town where he claims the right to vote at the time he registers, and who has complied with the requirements of this chapter, may have his name entered on the list of voters in such city or town, and may vote therein in any such election, or except insofar as restricted in any town in which a representative town meeting form of government has been established, in any meeting held for the transaction of town affairs. Notwithstanding any special law to the contrary, every such citizen who resides within the boundaries of any district, as defined in section one A of chapter forty-one, may vote for district officers and in any district meeting thereof, and no other person may so vote. A person otherwise qualified to vote for national or state officers shall not, by reason of a change of residence within the commonwealth, be disqualified from voting for such national or state officers in the city or town from which he has removed his residence until the expiration of 6 months from such removal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 1f - Persons Not Included in Register of Voters

Section 1F. A person who resides in the commonwealth and in the city or town where he claims the right to vote in an election at which electors of president and vice-president are to be chosen, but whose name is not included in the current annual register of voters of the city or town where he claims the right to vote, may qualify for voting only for such electors upon application to the registrars of voters of said city or town, not later than 5:00 p.m. of the tenth day preceding such election. Any form of written communication containing the name, age, citizenship, former residence and present residence of such person shall cause the registrars to make an investigation relative to the qualifications of such person to vote and, for the purpose of such investigation, the officer in charge of the police force of each city and town shall give the registrars such assistance as they may require. Upon determining that such person is qualified to vote under the provisions of this section, the registrars shall forward an absentee ballot to him and shall include his name on a list of persons qualified under this section which shall be sent to the city or town clerk. The provisions of sections ninety-four to ninety-six, inclusive, of chapter fifty-four shall apply to such ballots.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 2 - Name of Registered Voter Changed

Section 2. A registered voter who chooses to adopt a new name shall continue to be registered in his former name until June first of the following year at which time the voter shall be registered in his new name; provided, however, that if such voter appears in person prior to the close of registration for any preliminary, primary, or election to notify the registrars of such adoption of a new name, the registrars shall correct the current annual register so that such voter shall be registered in his new name.
If a voter does not choose to adopt a new name as a result of marriage, the registrars shall make no change in the name of such voter entered in the current annual register.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 3 - Place of Registration and Voting; Change of Residence

Section 3. For all elections and primaries held prior to June first in any year, a person shall be registered and may vote in the ward or voting precinct where he resided on January first of the previous year; provided, however, that any registered voter of a city or town who moves to any other precinct in said city or town may register to vote at his new address by making written application to the city or town clerk no later than the close of registration. A new resident of the city or town who changes his residence after having first registered in the city or town may also, upon like application, be registered at the new address. For all elections and primaries held on or after June first in any year, a person shall be registered and may vote in the ward or voting precinct where he resided on January first of that year; provided, however, that any registered voter of a city or town who moves to any other precinct in said city or town may register to vote at his new address by making written application to the city or town clerk no later than the close of registration. A new resident of the city or town who changes his residence after having first registered in the city or town may also, upon application, be registered at the new address. The city or town clerk shall forthwith notify each voter making any such written application that the same has been received and that he may vote, subject to the provision of this section regarding the close of registration, in the ward or precinct into which he has moved. The registrars may require that any such application be signed under the penalties of perjury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 4a - Notifying Residents of Opportunity to Register

Section 4A. During the course of the annual listing of residents, the registrars shall notify residents of the opportunity to register as voters and shall provide residents with assistance in registering to vote. Said registrars may, for this purpose provide to such residents in the course of such listing, forms for affidavits of voter registration prescribed by the state secretary pursuant to section thirty-six, which registrants shall complete during the listing or by return mail. Said registrars shall in any event make such forms available upon request for all eligible residents who are not registered voters.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 6 - Street Lists

Section 6. Except in any city or town as to which it is otherwise provided by special law, the registrars on or before April fifteenth in each year, shall prepare lists containing the names and addresses of all persons seventeen years of age or older listed by them under section four for the current year. Such lists shall be arranged in cities by streets, and in towns by streets or alphabetically by the names of the persons listed, and in cities and in towns of over five thousand inhabitants according to the latest national census, by the smallest subdivision of the city or town for the purpose of voting. On or before June fifteenth in each year, the registrars in all cities and towns shall cause a sufficient number of such lists to be printed, typed or mimeographed so as to furnish, free of charge, such lists, upon request, to all duly organized political committees and to all political candidates of the various districts in which the city or town is located. Such lists shall be made available by the registrars to business organizations and other nonpolitical committees and organizations at a fee to be determined by said registrars, and any such person or authorized representative of an organization or committee obtaining such list shall sign a log, maintained by the city or town clerk, placing in such log their names and addresses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 7 - Form, Contents and Distribution of Street Lists

Section 7. On the lists prepared under section six for delivery to public officers, the registrars shall name or designate all buildings used as residences, in their order on the street where they are located, by giving the number or other definite description of each building so that it can be readily identified, and shall place opposite to or under each number or other description of a building the name, date of birth, occupation and nationality if not a citizen of the United States, of every person who is listed under section four, and his residence on January first of the preceding year and of the current year. Every person so listed shall, if he is a registered voter, be so designated by an asterisk or other symbol. A copy of said lists containing the information required by this section shall be made available to the chairman of each city and each town committee. In cities and towns where the information on such lists is compiled on computer tapes, a copy of the tape or a set of mailing labels shall be made available to the chairman of each city or town committee at a reasonable price to be determined by the state secretary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 8 - Persons Omitted From Lists; Certificate

Section 8. If a resident in a city or town, except one as to which it is otherwise provided by special law, who is required to be listed under section four as of January first, was not so listed, such person, in order to establish his right to be listed, shall present to the registrars before the close of registration a sworn statement that he was on said day a resident of such city or town. If the registrars are satisfied that such statement is true, they shall list him, and on his request shall give him a certificate thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 10a - Statements by Innholders, Etc.

Section 10A. Every innholder licensed under any provision of chapter one hundred and forty and every keeper of a lodging house or public lodging house licensed thereunder, every multi-dwelling unit owner, and every administrator of a nursing home as defined by section one hundred and eight of chapter one hundred and twelve and of a rest home as defined by section seventy-one of chapter one hundred and eleven, shall deliver to the person performing the duties required by section four, on a suitable blank to be furnished him by said person a statement, signed under the penalties of perjury, showing the name and date of birth of every person three years of age or older on January first of said year whose place of residence on said January first was at such inn, lodging house, public lodging house, multi-dwelling unit, nursing home or rest home. For the purposes of this section, ''lodging house'' shall include fraternity houses and dormitories of educational institutions. For the purposes of this section, ''multi-dwelling unit'' shall mean condominiums of any size and any residential apartment complex consisting of more than eight rental dwelling units. In the case of a fraternity house or dormitory, the statement required to be delivered by this section shall be the responsibility of the person in charge of each said fraternity house or dormitory. In the case of the multi-dwelling unit, the owner or his designated representative at such place, or in the case of condominiums only, the president or principal officer of the condominium association, shall provide the required information.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 12 - Posting of Penalty Sections

Section 12. In all registration agencies and other government offices where voter registration is conducted, there shall be posted in a conspicuous place a legible copy of sections seven, eight and nine of chapter fifty-six. The provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of registrations under section forty-two A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 14 - Death of Resident; Notice

Section 14. The city or town clerk or other officer having charge of the registration of deaths in each city or town shall, on the first day of every month, and also two days before every election, transmit to the registrars of voters a list of the names of all residents thereof eighteen years of age or older who died in the preceding month or since the date of the list previously transmitted, with a statement of the ward, street and number therein, if any, where such person resided at his death.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 14a - Assistance in Making Lists

Section 14A. In the making of lists under sections four to fourteen, inclusive, the registrars, except in the city of Boston, may, with the approval of the mayor or selectmen or the school committee, as the case may be, have the assistance of the police department, assessors, supervisors of school attendance, or other suitable officers or employees of the city or town or other qualified persons employed by them for the purpose, in visiting buildings and residences and performing the duties of assistant registrars in securing the information required by said sections.
In the making of lists under sections four to fourteen, inclusive, the registrars of the city of Boston may, with the approval of the mayor, have the assistance of the police department in visiting buildings and residences and performing the duties of assistant registrars in securing the information required by said sections.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 14b - Applicability of Chapter to Cities and Towns Governed by Special Law

Section 14B. In cities and towns in which the duty of listing residents for the purposes of determining their right to vote is performed by officers other than registrars or assistant registrars, the provisions of this chapter relative to registrars and assistant registrars shall apply to such officers when performing like duties in such cities and towns, except as otherwise expressly provided in any special law or in this section. Where in any special law April first is stated as the date as of which the legal residence of any person shall be determined, such residence shall be determined as of January first instead of April first, and if any provision of this chapter contains a date for the performance of an official act by a board of registrars, registrar or assistant registrar, and by special law a different date is fixed for the performance of such act in any city or town by the same or any other board or officer, the earlier of such dates shall in such city or town prevail over the later date.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 15 - Board of Registrars in Certain Cities and Towns; Appointment; Term of Office

Section 15. Except as provided in section seventeen, there shall be in every city, other than one having a board of election commissioners or an election commission, and in every town a board of registrars of voters consisting of the city or town clerk and three other persons who shall, in a city, be appointed by the mayor, with the approval of the aldermen, and in a town, by a writing signed by the selectmen and filed with the town clerk. When a board of registrars is first appointed, the registrars shall be appointed in February or March for terms respectively of one, two and three years, beginning with April first following. In February or March in every year after the original appointment, one registrar shall be appointed for the term of three years, beginning with April first following.
As the terms of the several registrars expire, and in case a vacancy occurs in the board of registrars of voters, the selectmen or the appointing authority shall so appoint their successors that as nearly as possible the members of the board shall represent the two leading political parties, as defined in section one of chapter fifty; provided, that a city or town clerk need not be enrolled in a political party; and provided further, that in no case shall an appointment be made as to cause a board to have more than two members, including the city or town clerk, of the same political party. Every such appointment shall be made in a town by the selectmen or the appointing authority from a list to be submitted to them by the town committee of the political party from the members of which the position is to be filled, containing the names of three enrolled members of such party resident in the town, selected by a majority vote at a duly called meeting, at which a quorum is present, of such committee; and every member of a board of registrars of voters shall serve until the expiration of his term and until his successor has qualified; provided, however, if the chairman of the town committee has not submitted such list to the selectmen or the appointing authority within forty-five days after a notification to said chairman by certified mail, the selectmen or the appointing authority shall make said appointment without reference to such a list.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 17 - Board of Registrars in Certain Cities; Appointment; Term of Office

Section 17. In every city, other than one having a board of election commissioners or an election commission, which, by vote of the city council, approved by the mayor, accepts the provisions of this section, or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, or which is now subject to similar provisions of law, there shall be a board of registrars of voters, consisting of four persons, who shall be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the board of aldermen. When a board of registrars is first appointed after the acceptance of the provisions aforesaid, two registrars shall be appointed in February or March following such acceptance for terms respectively of three and four years, beginning with April first next ensuing. The city clerk of such city shall cease to be a member of the board of registrars on April first, but the remaining two members of the existing board of registrars whose terms do not then expire shall continue to hold office for their respective terms of one and two years. In February or March of every year after such first appointments, there shall in like manner be appointed one registrar of voters for the term of four years, beginning with April first following. The board so constituted shall annually in April organize by electing one of its members as clerk, who shall perform all the duties of a city clerk when acting as clerk of the board of registrars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 17a - Annual Training on State and Federal Election Laws and Regulations

Section 17A. In each municipality, the city or town clerk and a registrar or election commissioner, as designated by the board of registrars or the board of election commissioners, shall attend an annual training conducted by the office of the state secretary, and offered at no cost to the municipality or to the individual, on the applicable state and federal election laws and regulations. Upon completion of the training, the clerk, registrar or commissioner shall inform the board of registrars and election commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 18 - Political Representation by Board of Registrars

Section 18. In the original and in each succeeding appointment and in filling vacancies, registrars of voters shall be so appointed that the members of the board shall represent the two leading political parties, and in no case shall an appointment be so made as to cause a board to have more than two members, including the city or town clerk, of the same political party.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 19 - Unequal Political Representation; Notice and Hearing

Section 19. If, upon written complaint to the mayor or to the selectmen, it shall appear, after notice and hearing, that the city or town clerk, when a member of the board of registrars, and two registrars are of the same political party, the mayor or selectmen, as the case may be, shall remove from office the one of such two registrars having the shorter term remaining. If, upon like proceedings, it shall appear, after notice and hearing, that a registrar of voters, other than the city or town clerk, has ceased to act with the political party which he was appointed to represent, the mayor or selectmen, as the case may be, shall remove him from office.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 20 - Vacancies in Board of Registrars; Temporary Registrars

Section 20. If there is a vacancy in the board of registrars caused by death, resignation or retirement or if a member of the board of registrars is unable to perform the duties of his office, or is, at the time of any meeting of said board, absent from the city or town, the mayor or selectmen may, upon the request in writing of a majority of the remaining members of the board, appoint in writing some person to fill such vacancy temporarily, who is of the same political party as the member whose position he is appointed to fill. Such temporary registrar shall perform the duties and be subject to the requirements and penalties provided by law for a registrar of voters.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 22 - Assistant Registrars in Cities and Towns; Appointment; Term; Political Representation

Section 22. The registrars in cities and towns may appoint assistant registrars for the term of one year, beginning with April first, unless sooner removed by the registrars, and they shall equally represent the different political parties. Assistant registrars shall be subject to the same obligations and penalties as registrars. Registrars may remove an assistant registrar, and may fill a vacancy for the remainder of the term. Registrars may also appoint temporary assistant registrars from time to time to assist in the listing of persons seventeen years of age or over and in the registration of voters at registration sessions as provided for in this chapter, and they shall equally represent the different political parties. Except in Boston, persons appointed to serve temporarily as assistant registrars, or as temporary assistant registrars, shall not be subject to chapter thirty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 22a - Absent Registration Officers; Appointment; Political Representation; Physically Disabled Registrants

Section 22A. In every city and town the registrars of voters may, before every election at which absent voting is permitted, appoint a sufficient number of absent registration officers who in addition to the registrars and the assistant registrars may attend persons claiming to have the qualifications for voting in their respective cities and towns, but who, by reason of physical disability, are unable to apply in person for registration, to examine such persons relative to their qualifications for voting and to register such of said persons as they find to be qualified. Such absent registration officers shall be appointed from the enrolled voters of their respective cities and towns and shall, as nearly as may be, equally represent the two leading political parties.
Absent registration officers appointed under this section shall, in the performance of their duties, have all the powers, and be subject to all the obligations and penalties, of registrars of voters, but their doings shall be under the direction, and subject to the revision and acceptance, of the registrars of voters.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 23 - Registrars, Assistant Registrars and Absent Registration Officers; Oath of Office; Compensation

Section 23. The registrars, assistant registrars and absent registration officers shall, before entering upon their official duties, each take and subscribe an oath faithfully to perform the same. They shall receive such compensation as the city council or selectmen may determine; but such compensation shall not be regulated by the number of names listed or registered by them, as the case may be, and a reduction of compensation shall apply only to registrars, assistant registrars and absent registration officers appointed thereafter. The city council or selectmen shall provide them suitable rooms, necessary assistance and, when required, transportation. The city or town clerk, when a member of the board of registrars, shall act as clerk thereof, and shall keep a full and accurate record of its proceedings and shall cause such notices as the registrars may require to be properly given.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 24 - Powers and Duties

Section 24. The registrars may cause the duties devolving upon a single registrar to be performed by one or two assistant registrars, and, if two are designated for such duties, they shall be of different political parties. The registrars shall make suitable regulations governing the assistant registrars, whose doings shall be subject to their revision and acceptance.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 25 - Registrars; Assistant Registrars; Compatibility of Offices

Section 25. Every person appointed as a registrar or assistant registrar who is not regularly employed by the registrars shall be a voter of the city or town where he is appointed. No person appointed as a registrar or assistant registrar shall hold an office in the city or town for which he is appointed either by election or by direct appointment of the mayor or of the board of selectmen or of a city manager or town manager or hold an office by election or appointment under the government of the United States or of the commonwealth or of the city or town, except as a justice of the peace, notary public or officer of the state militia; provided, however, that in a town with a population of under two thousand residents, a person may be appointed a registrar or assistant registrar who holds an office in the town for which he is directly appointed by the board of selectmen or town manager, or who holds an office by appointment under the government of the United States or of the commonwealth. The acceptance by a registrar or assistant registrar of any such office shall vacate his appointment as registrar or assistant registrar. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a registrar or assistant registrar from becoming a candidate for election and serving as a member of a home rule charter commission or as a town meeting member.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 26 - Registration Sessions

Section 26. As used in this section and section forty-two H, ''election'' shall include every state, city or town primary, preliminary election, election, or town meeting. The registrars, for the purpose of registering voters, shall hold such day and evening sessions as the town, by by-law, or the city, by ordinance, shall prescribe and such other sessions at locations as they deem necessary to allow voters to register and they may for such purposes, use mobile registration units; provided, however, that except as provided in sections thirty-four and fifty, registration for the next election shall take place no later than 5:00 p.m. on the tenth day preceding such election and no later than 5:00 p.m. on the tenth day preceding a special town meeting. Mailed affidavits of registration postmarked before midnight on the final day to register for an election shall be effective for such election, as provided in section forty-two G. If a postmark is unclear or illegible, a mailed affidavit shall be accepted until the fifth day after the final day to register. In any city or town in which the annual city or town election is held on the first Monday in March, in a year when the presidential primary is held, the registration sessions held by the election commissioners or registrars of voters in preparation for the city or town election shall also serve as registration sessions for the primary. If any person applies for registration during a period prior to a regular or special preliminary, primary or election when registration to qualify as a voter in such preliminary, primary or election is prohibited by the provisions of this section, such person, if otherwise qualified, shall be registered and his name shall be placed on the voting lists as a registered voter for all later preliminaries, primaries or elections.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 26a - High School Voter Challenge Program

Section 26A. (a) The state secretary, in consultation with the commissioner of elementary and secondary education and the board of elementary and secondary education, shall establish a non-partisan high school voter challenge program and shall promulgate regulations to implement the program in participating high schools in the commonwealth; provided, however, that the regulations shall identify registration time periods that allow eligible students to participate in all municipal and state elections, including primary elections.
(b) Superintendents of schools shall ensure that each voter challenge program implemented in their districts provide opportunities for outreach and for all eligible students to register or pre-register to vote on any participating high school campus. An enrolled high school student may apply to serve as a voter outreach coordinator or be selected to serve as a voter outreach coordinator by a peer nomination process.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 28 - Last Day for Registration

Section 28. Registrars shall hold a continuous session from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the last day for registration established under section 26; provided, however, that a town having less than 1,500 voters may hold a session from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 33 - Affidavits of Registration

Section 33. Any registrar, at such places as may be appointed, and on the day and during hours designated for the purpose, may receive affidavits of registration, but all the actions of one registrar shall be subject to review and acceptance by the board.
In cities, and in towns having six hundred or more registered voters, any person shall be registered, as aforesaid, during regular business hours.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 33a - Online Completion of Affidavit of Registration

Section 33A. The state secretary shall create and maintain a secure online portal allowing a person to complete an affidavit of registration online. The registration shall be transmitted by the state secretary to the appropriate local registrar. The online affidavit shall use the person's signature from the registry of motor vehicles records and the registrar of motor vehicles shall make appropriate provisions to facilitate the electronic transfer of the image of the signature to the central voter registry. If the person's signature cannot be found using the online affidavit of registration form, the person shall be so informed and given the option to print the affidavit of registration, append the person's signature and mail or hand deliver the signed affidavit directly to the appropriate registrar of voters. The registrars shall certify the receipt of each completed affidavit of registration and shall notify the person of the disposition of the affidavit. Nothing in this section shall be construed to change any registration deadline or qualification of voting. The state secretary shall make the online portal accessible in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and such additional languages as the state secretary deems necessary or required by law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 34 - Persons Not Registered at Close of Registration

Section 34. After eight o'clock in the evening of a day on which registration is to cease, the registrars shall not register any person to vote in the next primary or election, except that they shall furnish, or cause to be furnished, to each person waiting in line at said hour of eight o'clock for the purpose of being registered, a card or slip of identification bearing such person's name and shall, before registration ceases, permit such person to register. The registrars may, however, enter or correct on the registers the names of persons (who have registered as voters) between December thirty-first preceding and the close of registration.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 35 - Omitted Listings Compared With Annual Register of Voters; Exceptions

Section 35. Except in any city or town as to which it is otherwise provided by special law, registrars shall compare all omitted listings with the annual register of voters for the preceding year, and if it appears to their satisfaction that any of said omitted listings is that of a person entitled to vote in such preceding year they shall at any time up to and including the day of the next primary or election enter such name on the current annual register. In every case they shall require the vote by virtue of which such entry or correction is made to be attested by their clerk. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section or of any other general or special law, this section shall apply to the city of Boston and the election commissioners thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 36 - Affidavit of Voter Registration; Distribution; Expenses

Section 36. The state secretary shall prepare in sufficient quantity blank forms for affidavits of voter registration and shall supply those forms to all registration agencies. The forms shall include the contents required by federal law, including section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. section 1973gg–4, and section 303(b)(4)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 42 U.S.C. section 15483(b)(4)(A). Such form shall be designed to provide the registrant with a copy thereof at the time of registration at a registration agency.
The state secretary shall provide English and Spanish affidavits of voter registration to all registration agencies. Said secretary shall provide forms in such additional languages as he deems necessary or as required by law.
The state secretary shall provide nongovernmental and private entities with sufficient quantities of such affidavit forms free of charge. Said secretary shall make such forms widely available for distribution through governmental, nongovernmental and private entities, with particular emphasis on making them available for organized voter registration programs.
A completed affidavit of voter registration shall be mailed, transmitted or otherwise delivered forthwith, within five calendar days, to the board of registrars of the city or town wherein which registrant resides.
All expenses incurred in the mailing of affidavits by registration agencies, except by the offices of city or town clerks or by individual registrants, shall be paid by the state secretary, subject to appropriation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 37a - Inactive Voters List

Section 37A. The name and address of a voter that is not entered in the annual register pursuant to section 37 for 2 consecutive years and who during that time fails to vote in any election shall be maintained on an inactive voters list until such voter has failed to vote in two consecutive biennial state elections and has thereafter been notified, by mail, of such removal from the inactive voters list.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 38 - Revisions and Corrections of Registers, Etc.

Section 38. The registrars shall, upon the personal application of a listed person for the correction of any error in their original lists, and whenever informed of any such error, make due investigation, and, upon proof thereof, correct the same on their books. When informed that a person whose name has been omitted from the voting lists of a city or town is in a hospital, a sanatorium, a rest home or convalescent or nursing home in another city or town, they shall make due investigation and, upon proof thereof, they shall restore the name of such person to the list of voters at his address of last registration, provided that he has not acquired the qualifications for registration as a voter in the town where he then resides. When informed of the omission of the name of a person who is averred to have resided in the city or town on January first in the then current year and to have been listed there in the preceding year, they shall make due investigation, and, upon proof thereof, add the name to their books. They shall revise and correct the current annual register in accordance with any facts they may have presented to them. They may, for this purpose, require that such facts be presented to them in writing, signed under the penalties of perjury. They shall strike therefrom the name of every deceased voter which has been transmitted to them under section fourteen or which has been electronically transmitted to them. After the name of a voter has been placed upon the current annual register or upon the inactive voters list, they shall not strike such name therefrom unless: (a) the voter has died; (b) they have received a duplicate copy of an affidavit of registration from the registrars of another city or town; (c) they have received a change of address notification from the registry of motor vehicles; (d) they have received a written request from the voter or the voter has confirmed in writing that he has moved to another city or town; or (e) the voter has not responded to the notice described in section thirty-seven and has not voted in the next two biennial state elections following the mailing of such notice.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 41 - Preservation of Documents

Section 41. The registrars shall preserve all written applications, complaints, certificates and affidavits received by them, and all other documents in their custody relative to listing and registration, for two years after the dates thereof; provided, however, that original affidavits of registration, or microfilm copies thereof, shall be preserved and shall be deemed to be public records, except large print affidavits of registration.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 41a - Duties Imposed by Secs. 10a and 37 in Cities Not Having Registrars

Section 41A. The duties imposed by sections ten A and thirty-seven, respectively, upon registrars of voters shall be performed in Boston and in other cities not having registrars by the election commissioners or other persons or boards having the powers and duties of registrars, or similar powers and duties. The reports required by said section ten A shall in Boston and in such other cities be filed with said commissioners or other persons or boards.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42 - Affidavit of Registration; Exception

Section 42. Registration as a voter shall be by affidavit of registration made in conformity with the requirements of this chapter by any person at least 16 years of age or older. Except as provided in sections 42A and 65, every person whose name has not been entered in the annual register in accordance with sections thirty-four through thirty-seven inclusive, or a corresponding provision of law applicable to a city or town having a listing board, must, in order to register as a voter, make an affidavit of registration as provided in this chapter and in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VIII - Elections › Chapter 51 - Voters › Section 42a - Physically Disabled Applicants

Section 42A. Any person claiming to have the qualifications for voting in any city or town who, by reason of physical disability, is unable to appear in person to register may make application, in writing, to the registrars of voters of such city or town for registration in the manner hereinafter provided.
The application shall be made, not later than the third day before the last day for registration of voters under section twenty-six, to the registrars of voters of the city or town in which the applicant resides. Applications received after such third day shall not be acted upon.
The registrars shall seasonably after receipt of an application for registration under this section delegate two registrars, assistant registrars, or absent registration officers to visit the person making the same, and the said officers, equally representing the two political parties, if satisfied that the applicant is unable by reason of physical disability to appear in person to register, shall provide him with a blank affidavit of registration and shall witness the signing thereof. No such person shall be provided with an affidavit of registration after the close of registration nor in any city or town other than that in which he claims the right to vote; provided, however, if the applicant is in the military or naval service of the United States, he may so register up until four o'clock post meridian on the day preceding a primary election, preliminary election or election.