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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 54, § 92 (2026)

Method of voting

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 92. A voter who has received an official absent voting ballot shall mark it in the presence of no other person, except as provided in section ninety-eight. The voter shall then enclose and seal the ballot in the envelope provided pursuant to clause (c) of the first paragraph of section eighty-seven, and execute the affidavit on such envelope. The voter shall return the ballot, sealed in such envelope, as hereinafter provided.

(a) A voter who receives the ballot by mail, as provided in subsection (a) of section ninety-one B, may return it by mail to the city or town clerk in the envelope provided pursuant to subsection (d) of section 87; via a secured municipal drop box, where provided; or such voter or a family member may deliver it in person to the office of the city or town clerk. A voter to whom a ballot was delivered in person at the office of the clerk as provided in said subsection (a) of said section ninety-one B shall return it without removing the ballot from such office.

(b) A voter to whom an election official delivered the ballot in person at a designated health care facility, as provided in subsection (b) of section ninety-one B, shall return it to such election official, who shall return it in his custody to the office of the city or town clerk.

(c) A voter to whom a ballot was delivered in person as provided in subsection (c) of section ninety-one B shall return it to the person who delivered it, and such person shall immediately return it in his custody to the office of the city or town clerk.

(d) The absent voting ballot of any voter who was eligible to vote at the time the ballot was cast shall not be deemed invalid solely because the voter became ineligible to vote by reason of death after casting the ballot. For purposes of this subsection, the term ''cast'' shall mean that the voter has: (i) deposited the absent voting ballot in the mail for ballots mailed; (ii) returned the absent voting ballot to the appropriate local election official either by hand or by depositing it in a secured municipal drop box, where available, for the city or town where the voter is registered; or (iii) returned the absent voting ballot electronically pursuant to section 91C.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1971–2020 · leading case: McCavitt v. Registrars of Voters of Brockton, 434 N.E.2d 620 (Mass. 1982).
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McCavitt v. Registrars of Voters of Brockton, 434 N.E.2d 620 (Mass. 1982). · cites it 11× “See G. L. c. 54, § 92. Finally, we must decide whether the government may compel an absentee voter, who has cast his ballot in good faith, but whose ballot is defective because of a failure to comply strictly with the absentee voting law, to disclose the candidate for whom he or…”
Connolly v. Sec'y of the Commonwealth, 536 N.E.2d 1058 (Mass. 1989). · cites it 5× “A voter who is within the United States and whose name is not on the list of permanently disabled voters is required by G. L. c. 54, § 92, both to mark the ballot, and to execute an affidavit on the inner envelope in which the ballot is placed, in the presence of a witness.”
Colten v. City of Haverhill, 564 N.E.2d 987 (Mass. 1991). “It declared the envelopes to be facially defective because they lacked certain information required by G. L. c. 54, § 92, and because some of the envelopes lacked statements required by G.”
Desjourdy v. Bd. of Registrars of Voters of Uxbridge, 266 N.E.2d 672 (Mass. 1971). “The procedure followed violated G. L. c. 54, § 92, which sets up significant safeguards to insure that the ballot represents the will of the voter.”
Colten v. City of Haverhill, 559 N.E.2d 1253 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990). “See G. L. c. 54, § 92. Most are without statements indicating why the voters did not sign personally.”
Dnc v. Katie Hobbs (9th Cir. 2020). “HOBBS Massachusetts Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 54, § 92 (a) (West 2019): A voter who receives the ballot by mail, as provided in subsection (a) of section ninety-one B, may return it by mail to the city or town clerk in the envelope provided pursuant to subsection (d) of section…”
Fyntrilakis v. City of Springfield, 713 N.E.2d 1007 (Mass. App. Ct. 1999). “See G. L. c. 54, § 92. This underscores, too, the court’s concern in cases involving challenged absentee ballots that there have been a high degree of compliance with the statutory safeguards against fraud.”
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