# Massachusetts H 4498: An Act regulating elections in the town of Conway

Massachusetts H 4498, An Act regulating elections in the town of Conway, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Natalie M. Blais (Democratic), Paul W. Mark (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-09-16 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2026) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4498-194
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Massachusetts H 4498
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act regulating elections in the town of Conway
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-09-11
- Last action: 2026-09-16, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2026
- Sponsors: Natalie M. Blais (Democratic), Paul W. Mark (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Election Laws, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 1 (10 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Conway ends caucuses, nonpartisan ballots: mixed, low. Conway no longer uses party caucuses to pick town officer nominees. Candidates must file nomination papers to get on the ballot, following state rules. Ballots for regular and special town elections show no party names or marks next to candidates. This applies only in Conway and overrides any confl…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Natalie M. Blais (Democratic), House
- Sponsor: Paul W. Mark (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-11 | committee | Committee Favorable: Poll/Vote | pass | 10 | 0 | 1 |

## Actions (15)

- 2026-09-16: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2026
- 2026-09-08: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate)
- 2026-09-08: Enacted (House)
- 2026-09-03: Read third and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-09-03: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2026-06-11: Read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate)
- 2026-04-21: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate)
- 2026-04-16: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2026-03-16: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2026-03-16: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-03-16: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2026-02-17: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2025-10-28: Hearing scheduled for 11/13/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2 (legislature)
- 2025-09-15: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-09-11: Referred to the committee on Election Laws (House)

## Bill text

- Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-09-16: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4498.pdf)

## Related bills

- H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed)
- H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate)
- H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house)
- H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed)
- H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading)
- H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)

## Sources
- [Chapter 214 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4498.pdf)

## Related
- [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194)
- [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194)
- [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194)
- [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194)
- [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194)
- [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4498-194 (as of 2026-11-01).
