Demystifying : How Are State/Ward/Town Committees of Political Parties Formed

State committees of political parties are organized under Massachusetts General Law chapter 52, section 1.The basic legal organization of political parties in Massachusetts is the ward and town committees. Each political party may elect a ward or town committee consisting of three to thirty-five members in each ward of a city and in each town for a four year term.

The State and Town/Ward/City Committee members are elected by us – We The Registered Voters of a State Senatorial District (SSD) or Town/Ward/City. We elect them during the Presidential Primary Election – which is on Tue March 1 – 2016.

This is entirely different from the election of Town Meeting Members (TMMs) - which is non-partisan.

For example – The Framingham Democratic Town Committee has 35 seats. You can run as a single individual or as a group (requires at least 3 individuals to form a group). You need only 5 signatures of registered Democrats OR INDEPENDENTS to nominate 1 or up to 35 people on the nomination paper – which has 35 spaces on the front and up to 10 spaces for nominating signatures on the back. The persons who will fill up the 35 seats need to be registered Democrats - voters residing in Framingham. However – any registered Democrat OR INDEPENDENT voter of Framingham can vote for these 35 people – as a group or as individuals. You can have say a group of 18 and nominate them with only 5 signatures. And if your group of 18 wins – you know that is a majority in 35.

Friday Nov 6 – Last day to file nomination papers locally. There are other steps after this.

Tuesday Mar 1 2016 – Presidential Primary

See hyperlinked PDF document for other important steps and deadlines.

Nomination papers are NOT available online. You can legally make EXACT copies of nomination papers. I have a few.

For quick phone guidance call Secretary of the Commonwealth - Elections Division, One Ashburton Place, Room 1705, Boston, Massachusetts 02108, 617-727-2828 or 800-462-VOTE

Below is a brief description of the process – both for State Committee and Town/Ward/City Committee with a link to PDF documents at the Secretary of State’s Office.
Nomination papers will be available on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division, Room 1705, One Ashburton Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. Many local clerks’ offices may also have nomination papers available. I have a few. Read the instructions on the nomination papers carefully before circulating and check that the name of the district is correct. Be sure to fill in the name of the city or town where signers of each paper are registered voters.Filing Nomination Papers (see PDF file for more details)·Please refer to the schedule on the inside back cover for filing deadlines. ·Nomination papers must be submitted to the local board of registrars or election commissioners for the certification of names no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2015·. Nomination papers must be picked up from the local election officials and filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2015

STATE COMMITTEE http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/State-Committee-brochure-2016.pdf· State committees of political parties are organized under Massachusetts General Law chapter 52, section 1· The state committee of each party includes one man and one woman from each of the 40 state senatorial districts (SSD) in Massachusetts. They are elected at the presidential primary election for a four year term. 3/1/2016· Candidates for the party state committees must be registered voters in the senatorial district from which they plan to run.. See PDF file for more restrictions/details.· State committee candidates must obtain at least 50 certified signatures on their nomination papers. Signers must be registered voters in the district and be enrolled in the candidate’s party or not enrolled in any party AKA Independents.

WARD AND TOWN COMMITTEES http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Ward-and-Town-Committee-brochure-2016.pdf·The basic legal organization of political parties in Massachusetts is the ward and town committees. Each political party may elect a ward or town committee consisting of three to thirty-five members in each ward of a city and in each town for a four year term.·Traditionally, there are three ways to run for ward or town committee:

Incumbent members of the current committee often form their own slate. An interested person may request a place on this slate by contacting the chairperson whose name is available at the local election office in the city or town hall.A candidate may run on another slate. A candidate may run as an individual.

Ballot Format

Ward and town committee nomination papers are “group” or “slate” papers. You can also run without being a member of any slate. Massachusetts law requires that groups appear first on the ballot and candidates running as individuals appear last· Three or more candidates on a nomination paper will be treated as a group. A paper with fewer than three names is not considered a group, and those names will appear alphabetically after the groups on the ballot · Each candidate for ward or town committee must be a registered voter in that ward or town and enrolled in the party during the 90 days before the filing deadline for nomination papers with the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, or a newly registered voter enrolled in that party. See PDF file for more restrictions/details.·

Signatures of Voters On the reverse side of the nomination papers there are spaces for the signatures of registered voters who wish to nominate the candidates listed on the front of the nomination paper. These must be voters who are enrolled members of the party or who are not enrolled in any party AKA Independents. It is possible for the candidates on the slate to nominate themselves by signing the back, as voters, in addition to signing the front (in the written acceptance area), as candidates.o Five certified signatures are all that are necessary to nominate a full slate, although it is strongly advised to obtain more than five signatures. For example Framingham has 35 seats for its DTC. The nomination paper has spaces for 35 candidates. Only 5 signatures are needed for all of them to go on the ballot.Feel free to forward this email to your contacts.

Call Secretary of the Commonwealth, Election Division with questions 617-727-2828 or 800-462-VOTE