Massachusetts Statutes

Section 72A. Caucuses before regular city or town elections shall be held not later than the thirty-eighth day preceding such city or town elections, notwithstanding any contrary provision in any general or special law.

Section 73. If in a city, except Boston, or town wherein elections are held by precincts, the city or town committee of either of the two leading political parties shall file with the aldermen or selectmen, at least two weeks prior to the time of holding its caucuses, a notice th…

Section 74. Caucuses relative to a special election shall be held at such time and place and subject to such reasonable notice as the political committee whose duty it is to provide for holding the same may determine. Calls therefor shall be issued by the chairman and secretary o…

Section 75. Every caucus of a political party shall be called by a written or printed notice. No caucus or meeting of a political party not so called shall be recognized as valid under sections seventy-one to eighty-one, inclusive. The presiding officer at a caucus shall open it …

Section 76. Notices of caucuses shall apply to all members of the party calling them, and to them only. No person having voted in the caucus of one political party shall be entitled to vote or take part in the caucus of another political party within the twelve ensuing months; ex…

Section 77. In balloting, the voting lists furnished under section sixty-two of chapter fifty-one shall be used as check lists, and no persons shall vote or take part in a caucus whose name does not appear upon said lists, unless he presents to the presiding officer of the caucus…

Section 78. If there is a tie vote for any caucus officer, the caucus officers elected shall fill the vacancy.

Section 79. The presiding officer and secretary or clerk of each caucus shall within three week days after its final adjournment deliver or send to each caucus officer a certificate of his election, and to each candidate for an elective office a notice of his nomination.

Section 7A. Except where otherwise provided by law, every nomination petition or other like paper of a candidate for a city office in a city wherein preliminary elections for the nomination of candidates for such office are held shall be submitted, on or before five o'clock in th…

Section 8. All certificates of nomination and nomination papers shall, in addition to the names of candidates, specify as to each, (1) his residence, with street and number, if any, (2) the office for which he is nominated, and (3) except as otherwise provided in this section and…

Section 80. Returns of all caucuses of political parties at which are made any direct nominations for a district comprising more than one ward, or where caucuses are held by precincts or by groups of precincts in any ward or town, shall be made in accordance with section one hund…

Section 81. If there is a tie vote for any candidate of a political party nominated directly for any office, for a district comprising more than one ward, the regularly elected general or executive committee representing the party for the election district in which such vote has …

Section 82. At least two weeks prior to the date on which caucuses are to be held, the chairman or secretary of the city or town committee shall notify the aldermen or the selectmen respectively of such date, and said aldermen or selectmen shall, at the expense of the city or tow…

Section 83. Notice of caucuses, signed by the chairman and secretary, shall be issued by each city and town committee not less than seven days prior to the day on which they are to be held. The notices shall state the place where and the day and hour when the several caucuses are…

Section 84. A ballot shall be taken for the choice of any candidate, to be selected by such caucus, and the polls shall be kept open at least thirty minutes.

Section 85. If a majority of caucus officers is not elected, or there is a tie vote for candidates for an elective office, the caucus shall at once proceed to another ballot unless some one present entitled to vote objects; in which case the caucus shall adjourn to any subsequent…

Section 86. The secretary of each caucus shall forthwith, after the ballots cast therein have been counted, transmit them, with the check list used at the caucus, to the city or town clerk, who shall preserve them for ten days. If during said time ten voters entitled to vote in s…

Section 87. If within three week days after any caucus a person who has received votes thereat for nomination or election to any office shall file a written statement with the city or town clerk, claiming an election or nomination or declaring an intention to contest the election…

Section 88. All caucuses for the election of caucus officers, or for the nomination of candidates for any city of town office in any city or town wherein the laws relating to primaries have not been adopted, held by a political party which has adopted the provisions of law for th…

Section 89. Any city or town committee shall, at the written request of fifty voters, members of its party, call caucuses of said party to determine by ballot whether the provisions of law for the use of official ballots shall be adopted. The notice of said caucus shall state the…

Section 9. Certificates of nomination and nomination papers for state offices shall be filed with the state secretary and he shall forthwith issue to the candidate or other person filing the same a certificate acknowledging the time and date of the receipt thereof. Certificates o…

Section 90. A political party in a city or town which has accepted said special provisions may, not less than one year after the date of the caucus wherein such provisions were adopted, revoke such action at a caucus called and held in the manner provided in the preceding section…

Section 91. All such caucuses of a political party for the choice of candidates for a city or town election, except caucuses relating to a special election, shall be held on the same day in each city and town. The city or town committee shall fix the days for holding all caucuses…

Section 92. Notices of caucuses in said cities or towns shall state the place where and the day and hour when nomination papers shall be issued; the place where and the earliest day and hour when such nomination papers may be filed, which time shall be not less than twenty-four w…

Section 93. At least two weeks prior to the day named for a caucus, the chairman or secretary of the city or town committee shall give notice of such date to the aldermen or to the selectmen, who shall, at least ten days prior to such date, notify the city or town committee of th…

Section 94. At least seven days prior to the day named for a caucus, the city or town committee shall issue a notice that such caucus will be held, stating the place, the day and the hour of holding the same. The hour shall not be earlier than two o'clock in the afternoon nor lat…

Section 95. The city or town shall provide, and the city or town clerk shall seasonably prepare, for each political party, blank nomination papers for use in the different wards of the city or in the town. Such papers shall state the place where, and the day and hour prior to whi…

Section 96. Nominations of candidates for elective city or town offices and for caucus officers to be voted for at a caucus, shall be made by nomination papers, as hereinafter provided. Such nominations shall be made on the blank nomination papers prepared and delivered in accord…

Section 97. All nomination papers shall be sealed up and filed with the secretary of the city or town committee not less than ten week days previous to the day on which the caucus is to be held for which the nominations are made, and he shall endorse upon them the time when he re…

Section 98. The secretary of the city or town committee shall immediately give notice to the person filing the nomination paper of any error, irregularity or informality appearing therein, and such person may, within two week days after the time when the nomination papers were op…

Section 99. If, in a city, nomination papers placing persons in nomination for all the offices to be filled at a caucus in any ward are not filed, the secretary of the city committee shall forthwith notify the chairman or secretary of the committee of such ward, who shall forthwi…

Section 9A. In any city or town which accepts this section, in a city by vote of the city council subject to the provisions of its charter, and in a town by vote of the town meeting, the following provisions shall apply with respect to nomination papers:— The final date for obtai…

Section 1. In the year 2001, and every tenth year thereafter, no later than June fifteenth, a city, by vote of its city council may, or if the existing wards in such city do not contain, as nearly as can be ascertained, an equal number of inhabitants, shall make a new division of…

Section 10. When wards of a city have been changed or when voting precincts in a city or town have been established, changed or discontinued, the city or town clerk shall forthwith give a written notice thereof to the state secretary, stating the number, designation and official …

Section 102. The state secretary shall prepare for the use of election officers, city and town clerks and registrars of voters such printed information and instructions as he may deem proper to facilitate the operation of sections eighty-six to one hundred and three, inclusive. S…

Section 103. The supreme judicial and superior courts shall have jurisdiction in equity to require the certification of any application for an absent voting ballot which the registrars have unreasonably refused to certify, to order the counting of any ballot improperly rejected, …

Section 103A. Sections eighty-six to one hundred and three Q, inclusive, of this chapter, sections twenty-one and twenty-seven of chapter fifty-six and sections thirty-four A and thirty-seven A of chapter fifty-three shall, so far as applicable, apply to special and regular city …

Section 103P. The provisions of this section shall apply to any regular annual or biennial city or town election, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary. The mayor and aldermen in cities or selectmen in towns may fix the day of holding preliminary elections or…

Section 103Q. No mere informality in the manner or carrying out any provision of law affecting voting by absent voting ballot at an election shall invalidate such election or constitute sufficient cause for the rejection of the returns thereof, and such provisions shall be constr…

Section 104. The blank forms and apparatus provided by the state secretary shall be used in ascertaining the result of the election or vote in state elections in cities and towns, in city elections, in elections of town officers in towns where official ballots are used, and also …

Section 105. Procedures at any precinct where an electronic voting system is in use shall be in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and five A. In any other precinct, if the state ballot box is used, the clerk shall, as soon as the polls are closed, record the t…

Section 105A. At any precinct using an approved electronic voting method, the clerk shall, as soon as the polls are closed, record the total number of ballots received, the number registered on the ballot box, and the total number of spoiled ballots. The election officers shall t…

Section 106. If the use of a state ballot box is required, no ballot shall be counted unless it has been deposited in and cancelled by such ballot box, or has been otherwise deposited in accordance with section sixty-six. Only official ballots shall be counted in any election for…

Section 107. The presiding officer at every polling place at elections of state and city officers and of town officers in towns where official ballots are used shall, after the record of the counting has been made, cause all ballots cast to be publicly enclosed in an envelope or …

Section 108. At any time after the election, upon written request of any person, the city or town clerk shall, within a reasonable time, open the envelope in which the voting lists have been enclosed, as provided in section one hundred and seven, and make a copy of the lists as c…

Section 109. City and town clerks shall retain in their custody the envelopes or containers containing the ballots cast, without examining them or permitting them to be examined by any person except as required by law, and upon the expiration of the period fixed for their preserv…