Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VIII Chapter 51
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 51, § 36 (2026)

Affidavit of voter registration; distribution; expenses

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 36. The state secretary shall prepare in sufficient quantity blank forms for affidavits of voter registration and shall supply those forms to all registration agencies. The forms shall include the contents required by federal law, including section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. section 1973gg–4, and section 303(b)(4)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 42 U.S.C. section 15483(b)(4)(A). Such form shall be designed to provide the registrant with a copy thereof at the time of registration at a registration agency.

The state secretary shall provide English and Spanish affidavits of voter registration to all registration agencies. Said secretary shall provide forms in such additional languages as he deems necessary or as required by law.

The state secretary shall provide nongovernmental and private entities with sufficient quantities of such affidavit forms free of charge. Said secretary shall make such forms widely available for distribution through governmental, nongovernmental and private entities, with particular emphasis on making them available for organized voter registration programs.

A completed affidavit of voter registration shall be mailed, transmitted or otherwise delivered forthwith, within five calendar days, to the board of registrars of the city or town wherein which registrant resides.

All expenses incurred in the mailing of affidavits by registration agencies, except by the offices of city or town clerks or by individual registrants, shall be paid by the state secretary, subject to appropriation.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1974–1985 · leading case: Fazio v. Fazio, 378 N.E.2d 951 (Mass. 1978).
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Fazio v. Fazio, 378 N.E.2d 951 (Mass. 1978). “In view of the holdings of these cases, we think it reasonable to interpret the statutory phrase “incapable of taking care of himself by reason of mental illness,” as encompassing a general inability on the part of an individual to manage his own person and financial affairs,…”
Hershkoff v. Bd. of Registrars of Voters of Worcester, 321 N.E.2d 656 (Mass. 1974). “They were required to record the name of the voter, his age or date of birth, place of birth, residence on the preceding January 1 or at the later time when he became an inhabitant of the city or town, the date of registration and his residence on that date, his occupation and…”
Guardianship of Hurley, 476 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 1985). “See G. L. c. 51, § 36. On September 29, 1980, Hurley, by his guardian, filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County a complaint “seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to redress the deprivation of and interference with constitutional, civil, and federal statutory…”
Boyd v. Bd. of Registrars of Voters of Belchertown, 334 N.E.2d 629 (Mass. 1975). “It is true that in the prepared form the affiant is required to swear that he or she is not a person under guardianship, G. L. c. 51, § 36, but this, as we have said, means nothing more than an affirmance that a court has not declared him incapable of managing his own affairs.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.