950 CMR 47.19 - Voting in Person on Election Day After Submitting Early Voter Ballot Prohibited; Death of Early Voter; Rejection of Certain Ballots

(1) Except as provided in 950 CMR 47.19, no voter to whom an early voting ballot has been mailed or delivered and whose early voting envelope has been received and accepted by the local election official shall be permitted to vote in person.

(2) No ballot mailed or delivered under the provisions of 950 CMR 47.00, shall be counted if the officers charged with the duty of counting the same are cognizant of the fact that the voter has died prior to the opening of the polls on the day of the election.

(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the local election official shall, on the day of the election, at his or her request, give to any person whose name has not been checked as provided in 950 CMR 47.08(1), a certificate of his or her name and residence, as stated on the voter list, signed by such local election official, and such local election official shall then forthwith place on the list of early voters, opposite the name of the person to whom such certificate is furnished, the capital letter C.

(a) On presentation of such certificate to the presiding election officer of the ward, voting precinct or town in which such voter is registered he shall, after his or her name has been checked on the voting list or on his or her certificate of supplementary registration, as the case may be, be allowed to vote.

(b) Such presiding officer shall preserve each certificate issued under 950 CMR 47.19 and return it to the local election official in the manner in which the voting lists are required by M.G.L. c. 54, § 107 to be enclosed.

(c) The local election official shall by telephone authorize the presiding officer to issue such certificate if said local election official determines that a voter at the polling place is entitled to it, and said presiding officer shall then similarly sign and issue such certificate.

(d) If, after a certificate is furnished under 950 CMR 47.19, an envelope purporting to contain an early voting ballot is received from a voter to whom such a certificate has been issued, and opposite whose name on the list of early voters the capital letter C has been placed as herein required, said local election official shall mark across the face of such envelope "Rejected as Voted in Person", and such envelope shall be preserved and destroyed in the manner provided by law for the retention, preservation and destruction of official ballots.

Notes

950 CMR 47.19

Adopted by Mass Register Issue 1320, eff. 8/26/2016.