Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VIII Chapter 54
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 54, § 80 (2026)

Prohibited markings; use of red pencils or red ink by election officers

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 80. Except as authorized by this chapter, no voter, election officer or other person shall place on a ballot any mark by which it may be identified; nor shall any person place a mark against any name upon a ballot not cast by himself; nor shall any election officer engaged in counting ballots, except the election officer or officers actually entering the count of ballots cast on tally sheets, hold in either hand during the counting of ballots a pen, pencil or other marking device. Election officers shall use only red pencils or red ink in recording or tabulating the vote in election precincts.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1970–1989 · leading case: Connolly v. Sec'y of the Commonwealth, 536 N.E.2d 1058 (Mass. 1989).
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Connolly v. Sec'y of the Commonwealth, 536 N.E.2d 1058 (Mass. 1989). “We conclude that two voters from Newton whose signatures and addresses appear on their absentee ballots substantially complied with the election laws.”
Chamberlain v. Bd. of Registrars of Voters of Harwich, 265 N.E.2d 591 (Mass. 1970). · cites it 2× “is that if the intent of the voter can be determined with reasonable certainty from an inspection of the ballot, in the light of the generally known conditions attendant upon the election, effect must be given to that intent and the vote counted in accprdance therewith, provided…”
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.