Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H880 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1823 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 880
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Tommy Vitolo
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to city and town clerks mailing of early voting ballots.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tommy Vitolo15th Norfolk1/15/2025 1 of 2
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1823 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 880
18	18	By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 880) of
19	19	Tommy Vitolo relative to mailing of early voting ballots by city and town clerks. Election Laws.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE HOUSE, NO. 730 OF 2023-2024.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to city and town clerks mailing of early voting ballots.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Paragraph (10) of subsection (a) of section 25B of chapter 54 of the General
31	31	2Laws, as appearing in section 10 of chapter 92 of the acts of 2022, is hereby amended by
32	32	3inserting after the word “available”, the following words:- , but not mailed more than 30 calendar
33	33	4days before the date of the preliminary, primary or election that the ballot pertains to. Early
34	34	5voting ballots shall not be picked up in person from the appropriate local election official more
35	35	6than 30 calendar days before the date of the preliminary, primary or election.
36	36	7 SECTION 2. Section 91B of said chapter 54, as amended by section 17 of said chapter
37	37	892, is hereby further amended by striking out subsections (a) and (b) and inserting in place
38	38	9thereof the following subsections:- 2 of 2
39	39	10 (a) Except as required by subsections (b) and (c), the ballot and accompanying
40	40	11papers shall be mailed postage prepaid and with return postage guaranteed or, if the voter so
41	41	12requests, delivered when called for at the office of the clerk, but not mailed more than 30
42	42	13calendar days before the date of the preliminary, primary or election that the ballot pertains to.
43	43	14No ballot shall be mailed to a designated health care facility within the city or town where the
44	44	15voter is registered.
45	45	16 (b) To a voter who is a patient or resident at a designated health care facility, the ballot
46	46	17and accompanying papers shall be delivered, in person, by a registrar, assistant registrar or
47	47	18absent registration officer, at the designated address, but not delivered more than 30 calendar
48	48	19days before the date of the preliminary, primary or election that the ballot pertains to. For the
49	49	20purposes of this section, a “designated health care facility” shall mean a health care facility as
50	50	21defined in section 25B of chapter 111, within the city or town, which has been designated for the
51	51	22purpose of supervised absentee voting, in writing, and filed with the city or town clerk, not later
52	52	23than 28 days before a primary or election, by any 2 registrars or election commissioners.