Chapter 56

Section 1. A registrar, assistant registrar, member of a listing board, police officer or interpreter, who knowingly enters on any list of persons, or causes or allows to be entered thereon, or reports the name of any person as a resident of a building, who is not a resident ther…

Section 10. Whoever wilfully defaces or removes a notice relating to the registration of voters, or a voting list, posted according to law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.

Section 11. Whoever falsely makes or wilfully alters, defaces, mutilates, destroys or suppresses a certificate of nomination or nomination paper, or letter of withdrawal of a name from such paper, or an initiative petition or a petition for the submission of a question to the vot…

Section 11A. Whoever falsely or willfully alters the designation of the district on a nomination paper after the names of voters signed thereto have been certified shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.

Section 12. An officer of a primary, caucus or convention who knowingly makes any false count of ballots or votes, or makes a false statement or declaration of the result of a ballot or vote, or knowingly refuses to receive any ballot offered by a person qualified to vote at such…

Section 13. A presiding officer at a caucus, primary or state or city election, or at an election in a town or district at which official ballots are used, who, when the right of a person offering to vote is challenged for any legal cause, wilfully or negligently fails to require…

Section 14. A primary, election or other officer whose duty it is to recount the ballots cast at a primary or election, who makes any statement or gives any information in regard to a ballot cast by a voter challenged at such primary or election, except as required by law, shall …

Section 15. A presiding officer who, at a town election at which official ballots are not used, before the polls are closed and without the consent of a voter, reads or examines or permits to be read or examined, the names written or printed on the ballot of such voter, in order …

Section 16. A primary or election officer, or a director of the count or assistant appointed under section six of chapter fifty-four A, who wilfully violates any provision relating to the enclosing in envelopes or containers, sealing, endorsing and delivering or transmitting of b…

Section 17. A city or town clerk or an election commissioner who examines or permits to be examined, except as required by law, ballots cast at an election, which are received and retained by him under section one hundred and nine of chapter fifty-four, shall be punished by a fin…

Section 18. A city or town clerk or an election commissioner who fails to make a record of votes cast at an election and to make and transmit copies of any such record, as required by chapter fifty-four, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars; but if a c…

Section 19. A city or town clerk, precinct clerk, election commissioner, mayor, alderman, selectman or other officer, who wilfully signs or issues a certificate not in accordance with the result of an election as appearing by the records and copies of records of votes cast, or by…

Section 2. A registrar or assistant registrar who refuses or wilfully neglects to require, under section forty-four of chapter fifty-one, an applicant for registration to submit an affidavit in compliance with said section, or who knowingly prevents or seeks to prevent the regist…

Section 21. Any city or town officer trusted with the execution of the laws relative to absent voting, who wilfully violates any provision thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

Section 22. A public officer, primary, caucus or election officer, director of the count or assistant appointed under section six of chapter fifty-four A, or officer or member of a political committee or convention, upon whom a duty is imposed by law, who refuses or wilfully fail…

Section 23. Whoever wilfully defaces or removes a notice or warrant for a primary, caucus or election posted according to law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.

Section 24. Whoever, before a primary or election, wilfully defaces or destroys any list of candidates posted according to law, or, during a primary, caucus or election, wilfully defaces, tears down, removes or destroys any card of instruction or specimen ballot posted for the in…

Section 25. Whoever, at a primary, caucus or election, places any distinguishing mark upon his ballot, or makes a false statement as to his ability to mark his ballot, or allows the marking of his ballot to be seen by any person for any purpose not authorized by law, or gives a f…

Section 26. Whoever, knowing that he is not a qualified voter in any place, wilfully votes or attempts to vote therein; whoever votes or attempts to vote more than once on his own name, his name having been registered more than once; whoever votes or attempts to vote in more than…

Section 27. Whoever, not being entitled to vote under the laws relative to absent voting, votes or attempts to vote thereunder or whoever being entitled to vote under said laws knowingly votes or attempts to vote in violation thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than t…

Section 27A. Whoever, at any election at which absent voting is permitted, knowingly and wilfully delivers an absent voter ballot to a voter or other person in any other manner than as provided for in section ninety-one A and ninety-one B of chapter fifty-four shall be punished b…

Section 28. Whoever, at a primary, caucus or election, aids or abets a person who is not entitled to vote, in voting or attempting to vote, or in voting or attempting to vote under a name other than his own, or in casting or attempting to cast more than one ballot, shall be punis…

Section 29. Whoever wilfully and without lawful authority hinders, delays or interferes with, or aids in hindering, delaying or interfering with, a voter while on his way to a primary, caucus or election, while within the guard rail, while marking his ballot or while voting or at…

Section 3. A registrar, assistant registrar or a member of a listing board or a police officer in a city or town having a listing board upon whom a duty is imposed by any law relating to the listing or registration of voters, who refuses or wilfully fails to perform such duty, or…

Section 30. Whoever wilfully obstructs the voting at a primary, caucus or election shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

Section 31. Any person challenging a qualified voter for purposes of intimidation, or of ascertaining how he voted, or for any other illegal purpose, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.

Section 32. No person shall, directly or indirectly, pay, give or promise to a voter, any gift or reward to influence his vote or to induce him to withhold his vote. Violation of any provision of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year.

Section 33. No person shall, by threatening to discharge a person from his employment, or threatening to reduce his wages, or otherwise threatening to adversely affect the terms and conditions of his employment, or promising to give him employment at higher wages, or otherwise pr…

Section 34. No person shall, to aid or promote his nomination or election to a public office, directly or indirectly promise to appoint or to secure or assist in securing the appointment, nomination or election of another person to a public position or employment or to a position…

Section 35. No person holding a public office or in nomination for, or seeking a nomination for, or appointment to, an office, shall corruptly use or promise to use, directly or indirectly, any official authority or influence to confer upon any person, or to aid a person to obtai…

Section 36. No person in the service of the commonwealth or of any county, city or town shall use his official authority or influence to coerce the political action of any person or body, or to interfere with any election. Violation of any provision of this section shall be punis…

Section 37. No member of the general court or paid officer or employee of the commonwealth shall promote or oppose, for a valuable consideration other than reimbursement for expenses actually incurred, the acceptance by the voters of any political subdivision of the commonwealth …

Section 38. No person shall pay the owner, editor, publisher, or agent of a newspaper or other periodical to induce him editorially to advocate or oppose any candidate for public office or political principle, or any question submitted to the voters; and no such owner, editor, pu…

Section 39. No person shall publish or cause to be published in a newspaper or other periodical any paid advertisement designed or tending to aid, injure, or defeat any candidate for public office or any question submitted to the voters, unless the name of the chairman or secreta…

Section 4. Whoever, being an inmate of a building and a resident seventeen years of age or upward, refuses or neglects to give the information required by section four of chapter fifty-one when asked by a registrar, assistant registrar, or anyone so authorized under section fourt…

Section 40. No organization consisting of two or more persons, other than a political committee duly elected in accordance with law or a corporation organized prior to January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, under the laws of this commonwealth and having as a part of it…

Section 41A. No person shall, in order to promote his success or the success of another as a candidate for nomination or election to any public office, or in connection with any question submitted to the voters, include or cause to be included in any political advertisement, circ…

Section 42. No person shall make or publish, or cause to be made or published, any false statement in relation to any candidate for nomination or election to public office, which is designed or tends to aid or to injure or defeat such candidate. No person shall publish or cause t…

Section 43. No person shall prevent, hinder or interfere with the lawful distribution of any circular, poster, card, handbill, placard, picture or other printed matter intended to influence the action of a voter, and no person shall, wilfully and with intent to injure the person …

Section 43A. No person, except a veteran, as defined by section one of chapter thirty-one, who is a candidate for nomination or election to any public office shall use the word ''veteran'' as applied to himself, in any circular, poster, card, handbill, placard, picture or other p…

Section 44. No individual, except as otherwise provided by law, and no non-elected political committee, shall distribute by mail, or otherwise or directly or indirectly cause to be distributed by mail or otherwise, a list or slate containing names of candidates for state office o…

Section 44A. No person shall distribute by mail or otherwise, or directly or indirectly cause to be distributed by mail or otherwise, a list or slate containing names of candidates for state office to be nominated at state primaries or to be elected at a biennial state election, …

Section 45. No political committee and no person required to file a statement shall make any payment or promise of payment of money to or in behalf of any person for naturalization fees or for services as counsel or otherwise in assisting any one to obtain naturalization. Violati…

Section 46. Whoever, at a primary, caucus or election, behaves in a disorderly manner, and, after notice from the presiding officer or director of the count, persists in such behavior and refuses to withdraw from the polling place, or from the central counting place, shall be pun…

Section 47. Whoever wilfully disobeys any lawful command of an election, caucus or primary officer shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one month.

Section 48. Whoever interferes, or aids or abets any person in interfering, with an election commissioner, city or town clerk, election officer, or director of the count or assistant appointed under section six of chapter fifty-four A, in the performance of his duties shall be pu…

Section 49. Whoever wilfully obstructs or interferes with the transmission of ballots or returns to or from a polling place or a central counting place shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year.

Section 5. Whoever knowingly gives to a registrar, assistant registrar, member of a listing board or police officer, for the purpose of making a list of residents seventeen years of age or older or a report under the laws relating to the listing and registration of voters, the na…

Section 50. Whoever alters a ballot cast at a primary or caucus or, not being authorized thereto, deposits a ballot in a ballot box, container or envelope used at a primary or caucus, or removes a ballot from such ballot box, container or envelope, shall be punished by imprisonme…

Section 51. Any person who shall tamper with or injure or attempt to tamper with or to injure any voting machine to be used or being used in an election, or who shall prevent or attempt to prevent the correct operation of such machine, or any unauthorized person who shall make or…