SENATE DOCKET, NO. 3056        FILED ON: 3/16/2022

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2775

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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March 16, 2022

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives,

Pursuant to the provisions of Article II, Section 8, Paragraph 1, Clause (2) of the Amendments to the Constitution, as appearing in Article LXXXIX of said Amendments, I am filing for your consideration the attached legislation entitled “An Act Making Certain Provisions for the Municipal Election in the Town of Hingham.” 

I am filing this special legislation at the request of the Hingham Select Board.

This bill adopts two measures to accommodate the Town’s upcoming municipal election.  First, the bill postpones the Town’s upcoming municipal election from April 30, 2022 to a date on or before June 30, 2022 as determined by the Select Board.  The Board intends to use its existing statutory authority to move Town Meeting from April 25, 2022 to a later date in order to permit Town Meeting to be conducted outside.  This bill will allow the Town to preserve its normal practice of holding its municipal election after Town Meeting.

Second, the bill preserves an existing sub-precinct that encompasses a large retirement community.  This provision is necessary because the Town’s existing precincts were reordered by the Legislature’s recent redistricting bill.  The Town secured similar home rule legislation in 2008 and 2012 to maintain the polling station in this retirement community 

I urge your prompt consideration of this bill.  

Respectfully submitted

Charles D. Baker,

Governor

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2775

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act making certain provisions for the municipal election in the town of Hingham.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law or by-law of the Town of Hingham to the contrary, the Select Board of the Town of Hingham may vote on any day prior to the Town of Hingham municipal election, presently scheduled for April 30, 2022, to postpone said municipal election to a certain date on or before June 30, 2022 in accordance with this act. Such rescheduled municipal election shall be held in accordance with all applicable election laws except as otherwise provided in this act.

(b) The Select Board of the Town of Hingham shall, following consultation with the local election official and the Town Administrator as to logistics and feasibility, vote to reschedule said municipal election. A copy of this act, the vote of the Select Board, and a sample ballot shall be placed on the official Town of Hingham website not later than 20 days before the date to which the municipal election has been postponed. Notice of such action shall be provided to the public in other ways reasonably calculated to enable eligible voters to learn of the rescheduled municipal election date and to cast ballots therein. The notice may include, but shall not be limited to, a “reverse-911” call, municipal list-serve notifications, advertisement on local cable television, or issuance of a press release sent to local news media.

(c) Consistent with section 107 of chapter 41 of the General Laws, an incumbent elected official whose term would have expired at the municipal election if the municipal election was not postponed pursuant to this act shall continue to serve in the official’s position until a successor is elected and qualified.

SECTION 2. The last day to register to vote for the municipal election postponed pursuant to this act shall be 10 days before the date to which the rescheduled municipal election has been postponed; provided, however, that the board of registrars shall hold a registration session on that date not less than from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The voting list to be used at the rescheduled municipal election shall include all eligible voters registered as of that date.

SECTION 3. The municipal election materials, including, but not limited to, absentee and official ballots, prepared for the municipal election postponed pursuant to this act and bearing that date shall be used for the rescheduled municipal election to the extent practicable. If additional ballots are required to be printed, the ballots shall be identical in form to those prepared for the original municipal election.

SECTION 4. Absentee ballots cast in connection with the original municipal election date postponed pursuant to this act, whether returned before said original municipal election or otherwise, and received by the local election official before the close of polls on the date of the rescheduled municipal election, shall be processed in accordance with applicable law; provided, however, that any voter who chooses to vote in person on the date of the rescheduled municipal election may do so if their absentee ballot has not yet been counted. Completed applications to vote by absentee ballot in the rescheduled municipal election shall be accepted by the board of registrars until 12:00 noon on the last business day before the rescheduled municipal election.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, precinct 7 of the Town of Hingham shall be 1 precinct for the purpose of forming congressional, representative, senatorial, or councilor districts but shall have 2 polling places for the purposes of voting in a state or municipal election: 1 polling location shall be located in the Linden Ponds retirement community at 203 Linden Ponds Way, to serve voters residing within Linden Ponds located in the Town of Hingham and shall be known as precinct 7A, and the other polling location shall be designated by the Select Board under section 24 of chapter 54 of the General Laws to serve all others in current precinct 7 which shall be known as precinct 7.

SECTION 6. The board of registrars of voters and the town clerk shall divide precinct 7 into precincts 7 and 7A as set forth in section 5, and only the names of voters who reside in each shall appear on the voting list for any such precinct.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect upon its passage.