AN ACT ESTABLISHING CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS.
Whereas , The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide forthwith for a new division of the commonwealth into congressional districts, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
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. Chapter 57 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 1. For the purpose of electing representatives in the Congress of the United States and delegates and alternate delegates to the national conventions of political parties, until otherwise provided by law, the commonwealth is divided into the following 10 districts, each of which shall elect 1 representative:
First Congressional District - Consisting of the cities and towns in Berkshire and Franklin counties; the cities of Holyoke and Westfield and the towns of Blandford, Chester, Granville, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick, Tolland, and West Springfield, all in the county of Hampden; the towns of Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Hatfield, Huntington, Middlefield, Pelham, Plainfield, Southampton, Ware, Westhampton, Williamsburg, and Worthington, all in the county of Hampshire; the towns of Ashby, Pepperell, and Townsend, all in the county of Middlesex; the cities of Fitchburg, Gardner, and Leominster, and the towns of Ashburnham, Athol, Barre, Hardwick, Hubbardston, Lunenburg, New Braintree, Oakham, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Sterling, Templeton, West Brookfield, Westminster, and Winchendon, all in the county of Worcester.
Second Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Agawam, Chicopee, and Springfield, and the towns of Brimfield, East Longmeadow, Hampden, Holland, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Monson, Palmer, Wales, and Wilbraham, all in the county of Hampden; the city of Northampton, and the towns of Hadley and South Hadley, all in the county of Hampshire; the town of Bellingham, in the county of Norfolk; the towns of Blackstone, Brookfield, Charlton, Douglas, Dudley, East Brookfield, Grafton, Hopedale, Leicester, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, North Brookfield, Northbridge, Oxford, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, and Webster, all in the county of Worcester.
Third Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Attleboro and Fall River, Wards 1 to 3, inclusive, Ward 4, precincts A and B, Ward 5, precincts A and B, Ward 6, precincts B and C, and Ward 8, precinct D, and the towns of North Attleborough, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, and Swansea, all in the county of Bristol; the city of Marlborough and the towns of Ashland, Holliston, and Hopkinton, all in the county of Middlesex; the towns of Franklin, Medway, Plainville, and Wrentham, all in the county of Norfolk; and the city of Worcester and the towns of Auburn, Boylston, Clinton, Holden, Northborough, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Southborough, West Boylston, and Westborough, all in the county of Worcester.
Fourth Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Fall River, Ward 4, precinct C, Ward 5, precinct C, Ward 6, precinct A, Ward 7, Ward 8, precincts A to C, inclusive, and Ward 9, New Bedford, and Taunton, and the towns of Acushnet, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Mansfield, Norton, Raynham, and Westport, all in the county of Bristol; the city of Newton and the town of Sherborn, in the county of Middlesex; the towns of Brookline, Dover, Foxborough, Millis, Norfolk, Sharon, and Wellesley, all in the county of Norfolk; the towns of Halifax, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Rochester, and Wareham, all in the county of Plymouth.
Fifth Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Haverhill and Lawrence, and the towns of Andover and Methuen, all in the county of Essex; the city of Lowell, and the towns of Acton, Ayer, Billerica, Boxborough, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Hudson, Littleton, Maynard, Shirley, Stow, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wayland, precincts 1, 3, and 4, and Westford, all in the county of Middlesex; the towns of Berlin, Bolton, Harvard, and Lancaster, all in the county of Worcester.
Sixth Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Beverly, Gloucester, Lynn, Newburyport, Peabody, and Salem, and the towns of Amesbury, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Groveland, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, North Andover, Rockport, Rowley, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, and West Newbury, all in the county of Essex; the towns of Bedford, Burlington, North Reading, Reading, Wakefield, and Wilmington, all in the county of Middlesex.
Seventh Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Waltham, and Woburn, and the towns of Arlington, Belmont, Framingham, Lexington, Lincoln, Natick, Stoneham, Watertown, Wayland, precinct 2, Weston, and Winchester, all in the county of Middlesex; and the city of Revere and the town of Winthrop, in the county of Suffolk.
Eighth Congressional District - Consisting of the cities of Cambridge and Somerville, in the county of Middlesex; and the cities of Boston, Wards 1 and 2, Ward 3, precincts 1 to 4, inclusive, 7 and 8, Ward 4, Ward 5, precincts 1 and 2, 6 to 10, inclusive, Ward 7, precinct 10, Wards 8 to 12, inclusive, Ward 13, precincts 1 and 2, and 4 to 6, inclusive, Ward 14, Ward 15, precincts 1 to 5, inclusive, and 7 to 9, inclusive, Ward 16, precincts 1 and 3, Ward 17, precincts 1 to 3, inclusive, and 5 to 12, inclusive, Ward 18, precincts 1 to 8, inclusive, 13 to 15, inclusive, and 21, Ward 19, precincts 1, 3 to 6, inclusive, 8 and 9, and Wards 21 and 22, and Chelsea, all in the county of Suffolk.
Ninth Congressional District - Consisting of the town of Easton, in the county of Bristol; the towns of Avon, Braintree, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, Medfield, Milton, Needham, Norwood, Randolph, Stoughton, Walpole, and Westwood, all in the county of Norfolk; the city of Brockton, and the towns of Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Hanson, precincts 1 and 3, West Bridgewater, and Whitman, all in the county of Plymouth; the city of Boston, Ward 3, precincts 5 and 6, Ward 5, precincts 3 to 5, inclusive, and 11, Ward 6, Ward 7, precincts 1 to 9, inclusive, Ward 13, precincts 3, and 7 to 10, inclusive, Ward 15, precinct 6, Ward 16, precincts 2 and 4 to 12, inclusive, Ward 17, precincts 4, 13, and 14, Ward 18, precincts 9 to 12, inclusive, 16 to 20, inclusive, 22 and 23, Ward 19, precincts 2, 7, and 10 to 13, inclusive, and Ward 20, all in the county of Suffolk.
Tenth Congressional District - Consisting of the cities and towns in the counties of Barnstable, Dukes County, and Nantucket; the city of Quincy and the towns of Cohasset and Weymouth, all in the county of Norfolk; the towns of Abington, Carver, Duxbury, Hanover, Hanson, precinct 2, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, and Scituate, all in the county of Plymouth.
SECTION 2. The supreme judicial court shall have jurisdiction of a civil action relative to the establishment of congressional districts under section 1. A complaint in the action shall be filed in the court within 10 days after the effective date of this act.