Chapter 53

Section 33. Ballots for each party shall be printed on paper of a different color from that on which the ballots for any other party are printed. At least three facsimile copies of the ballot for each party, printed on colored paper, shall be provided for each polling place as sp…

Section 34. At the top of each ballot shall be printed the words ''Official ballot of the (here shall follow the party name)''. There shall also be printed on the ballot the number of the precinct and ward or the name of the town for which the ballot is prepared, the date of the …

Section 34A. Prior to each biennial or special state primary the state secretary shall prepare in such quantities as he may deem necessary the following papers:— (a) Official absent voting ballots, similar in all respects to the official ballot to be used at such primary, on pape…

Section 35. A cross (X) marked against a name shall constitute a vote for the person so designated except that no cross shall be required where the voter has inserted the name of the candidate for whom he intends to vote. A cross in the circle at the head of a group of candidates…

Section 35A. Pasters, commonly called stickers, to be used at primaries shall not be more than one half inch in width and four and one half inches in length and shall be subject to the same restrictions with respect to names and residences of candidates and the size of the type i…

Section 35B. The city or town clerk shall forthwith notify a person who appears to have been nominated by means of pasters or write-ins of the necessity of complying with section three.

Section 36. The city or town clerk, before the opening of the polls on the day of the primary, shall deliver at the polling place to the warden or, if he is absent, to the clerk or, if both are absent, then to any inspector, ballot boxes, ballots, specimen ballots, voting lists, …

Section 37. The voting lists used at primaries shall contain the party enrollment of the voters whose names appear thereon established as provided in this section, in section thirty-eight, and in section forty-four of chapter fifty-one. Except as provided by section thirty-seven …

Section 37A. A voter desiring to vote by absentee ballot in a primary shall specify on his application for the ballot the party with which he is enrolled or, if he is unenrolled, the party in whose primary he desires to vote. A city or town clerk shall not supply any voter with t…

Section 38. No voter enrolled under this section or section thirty-seven shall be allowed to receive the ballot of any political party except that in which he is so enrolled; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided in said section thirty-seven, a voter may, except w…

Section 38A. The board of registrars of voters of every city or town shall submit to the state secretary a count for each precinct of the number of voters enrolled in each political party and each political designation and the number of unenrolled voters. The count shall be corre…

Section 39. In counting votes when the ballots are removed from the ballot box, they shall first be sorted into piles, one for each party, and each pile shall be counted and sealed separately. Votes shall be counted only for nominations of the party on whose ballot they appear.

Section 4. No convention to nominate candidates shall be called for or held on a date earlier than four days after the holding of the caucuses for the choice of delegates thereto, and all such conventions shall be called for and held on a date not later than forty-eight hours pri…

Section 40. No person who is a candidate at a primary for nomination for or election to a political office, if no candidate's name is printed on the ballot therefor, shall be deemed to be nominated or elected unless he receives a number of votes at least equal to the number of si…

Section 40A. Petitions for recounts of the ballots cast at a primary of a political party may be signed only by registered voters enrolled in such political party on or before the last day to register to vote for the primary.

Section 41. Primaries shall be held for the nomination of candidates of political parties for all offices to be filled at a state election, except presidential elector. Sections forty-two to fifty-three A, inclusive, shall apply to such primaries.

Section 42. In cities or towns where the aldermen or selectmen determine the question of holding state primaries by wards, precincts or groups of precincts, they shall give notice of their determination to the state secretary on or before June first; except that in the case of pr…

Section 43. The polls at every primary shall be open at least thirteen hours. Such hours shall be designated in cities by the aldermen or councillors, and in towns by by-laws or vote, or, in default of such by-laws or vote, by the selectmen. The polls shall in no case be kept ope…

Section 44. The nomination of candidates for nomination at state primaries shall be by nomination papers. In the case of the governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney general and United States senator, nomination papers shall be signed in the aggregate by at least ten thousand vote…

Section 45. Every nomination paper shall state in addition to the name of the candidate, (1) his residence, with street and number thereof, if any, (2) the office for which he is nominated, and (3) the political party whose nomination he seeks. This information, in addition to th…

Section 46. Every nomination paper of a candidate for state office shall be submitted on or before five o'clock post meridian of the twenty-eighth day preceding the day on which it must be filed with the state secretary to the registrars of the city or town in which the signers a…

Section 47. Nomination papers for use in the nomination of candidates to be voted for at state primaries shall be prepared, and on request furnished, by the state secretary. Nomination papers for use in the nomination of candidates for all offices shall be available for use on or…

Section 48. Nomination papers of candidates to be voted on at presidential primaries except candidates for state, ward and town committees, shall be filed with the state secretary on or before the first Friday in January preceding the day of the primaries. Nomination papers of ca…

Section 49. If a person nominated to be voted for at a state primary dies before the day of the primary, or withdraws his name from nomination, or is found ineligible, and there is no other candidate for the party nomination for the office, the vacancy may be filled by the state …

Section 5. Every certificate of nomination shall state such facts as are required by section eight and shall be signed and sworn to by the presiding officer and by the secretary of the caucus or convention, who shall add to their signatures their residences. The secretary shall w…

Section 50. In cases of withdrawal, nominations to fill vacancies shall be filed with the state secretary within seventy-two week day hours succeeding five o'clock in the afternoon of the last day for filing withdrawals. They shall be open to objections in the same manner, so far…

Section 51. No ballots cast at a state primary in cities or towns shall be counted until the close of the polls.

Section 52. Upon receipt of the records of votes cast at state primaries, the city or town clerk shall forthwith canvass the same and within four days after said primary make return of the votes for candidates for nomination for state offices to the state secretary, who shall for…

Section 53. In case of a tie vote where the number of persons receiving equal votes exceeds the number of nominations available, there shall be deemed to be a vacancy. If the tie is between candidates for an office to be filled by all the voters of the commonwealth, the vacancy s…

Section 53A. When nominations at the state primaries are in apparent conformity with law, they shall be valid unless written objections are made thereto in accordance with the provisions of chapter fifty-five B. A person nominated at such primaries may withdraw his name from nomi…

Section 55. The nomination of candidates of political and municipal parties to be voted for at city and town elections, in cities and towns where such nominations are permitted by law, and which vote that primaries shall be held therein, shall be made under sections twenty-three …

Section 56. In any city or town which has adopted the provisions of law for nominating by primaries, the following question shall be put on the official ballot at any city election or annual town meeting on petition of five per cent of the voters registered at the time of the pre…

Section 57. Notices of intention to participate in primaries shall be furnished to the city or town clerk, not later than the thirtieth day prior to the day on which the primaries are to be held, by the city and town committees of such political and municipal parties as are entit…

Section 58. The city or town clerk shall seasonably prepare, and the city or town shall provide, blank nomination papers for use in the nomination of candidates to be voted for at city or town primaries. Such papers shall state the place where, and the day and hour prior to which…

Section 59. Nominations of candidates for elective offices, to be voted for at a primary, shall be made by nomination papers, as hereinafter provided. Such nominations shall be made on the blank nomination papers prepared in accordance with the preceding section; and no nominatio…

Section 6. Nominations of candidates for any offices to be filled at a state election may be made by nomination papers, stating the facts required by section eight and signed in the aggregate by not less than the following number of voters: for governor and lieutenant governor, a…

Section 60. Section forty-five shall apply to nomination papers for city and town primaries, except that in towns such nomination papers may contain the names of candidates for any or all of the offices to be filled at the town election, but the number of names of candidates on s…

Section 61. All nomination papers of candidates to be voted for at city or town primaries shall be filed with the city or town clerk not less than thirty-five days previous to the day on which the primary is to be held for which the nominations are made. Every such nomination pap…

Section 62. If a person nominated to be voted for at a city or town primary dies before the day of the primary, or withdraws his name from nomination, or is found ineligible, and there is no other candidate for the party nomination for the office, the vacancy may be filled by vot…

Section 63. The polls at every such primary shall be open during such hours, not less than nine in cities nor four in towns, as may be designated by the aldermen or selectmen.

Section 64. City and town clerks shall canvass the returns of votes, determine the results, and issue proper certificates thereof to the successful candidates.

Section 7. Every voter signing a nomination paper shall sign in person as registered or substantially as registered, and shall state the address where he or she is currently registered, but any voter who is prevented by physical disability from writing may authorize some person t…

Section 70A. Sections seventy B to seventy H, inclusive, shall apply to presidential primaries.

Section 70B. In any year in which candidates for presidential electors are to be elected, the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to national conventions of political parties shall be by that system adopted by the state committee, provided such system shall not include…

Section 70C. In cities and towns where the question of holding presidential primaries by wards, precincts or groups of precincts is determined by the aldermen or selectmen, they shall give notice of their determination to the state secretary on or before the third Wednesday in No…

Section 70D. Nominations of candidates for state, ward and town committee shall be by nomination papers which shall be prepared and, on request, furnished by the state secretary. Nomination papers for candidates for state committees shall be signed by at least fifty voters, and n…

Section 70E. The state secretary shall cause to be placed on the official ballot for use at presidential primaries the names of those candidates or potential candidates for the office of president of the United States whom he shall have determined to be generally advocated or rec…

Section 70F. Upon the receipt of the records of the votes cast at presidential primaries and within four days after said primary the city or town clerk shall forthwith canvass the same and make return of the votes for nomination for president, and for election as members of the s…

Section 70G. In case of the death, withdrawal or ineligibility of a candidate for state committee, the vacancy may be filled as provided in section forty-nine. In case of the death, withdrawal or ineligibility of a candidate for a ward or town committee, the vacancy may not be fi…

Section 70H. The provisions of law relating to primaries and nomination papers consistent with the five preceding sections shall apply to presidential primaries, so far as practicable.