Voting in Special Circumstances

May people subject to a guardianship vote?

In Massachusetts, citizens under legal guardianship retain their rights to register and to vote unless the guardianship under which they are placed expressly and specifically revokes such rights.

How do overseas citizens and military personnel vote?

Massachusetts citizens who are covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) have special rules for registration and voting. To see if you are covered under UOCAVA, click here.

Under Massachusetts election law, citizens who fall under the UOCAVA guidelines do not have to register to vote and may vote in all elections by absentee ballot.

The easiest way to request an absentee ballot is through filling out the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), available here, and returning it to your local election office. (To find the address of your election office, click here and enter your home address in Massachusetts. If you no longer have a Massachusetts address, enter in your most recent Massachusetts address. The contact information for your local election office is under the heading “Your Town Clerk.”) To be eligible to vote absentee, your election office must receive your completed FPCA no later than noon the day before an election.

On the FPCA, you will see a section to indicate for which elections you wish to receive absentee ballots. If you do not fill out this section, you will automatically receive absentee ballots for all elections that will within the next two federal election cycles. When this time has passed, you must fill out a new FPCA to continue receiving absentee ballots.

Absentee ballots are mailed out 3 to 4 weeks before an election. If you reside within or are stationed within the United States, your completed absentee ballot must arrive at your local election office by the close of polls (usually 8:00 p.m. in Massachusetts) on Election Day for all elections.

The rules are slightly different for UOCAVA citizens who reside outside of or are stationed outside of the United States. For local or primary elections, your completed absentee ballot must arrive at your local election office by the close of polls (usually 8:00 p.m. in Massachusetts) on Election Day. For general Federal elections, your completed absentee ballot must be postmarked by Election Day, and must arrive at your local election office within 10 days of Election Day.

For detailed instructions on how to fill out the FPCA, and for other information related to UOCAVA voting in Massachusetts, click here. To view the UOCAVA law in its entirety, click here.

What if I don’t want my address to be made public?

In Massachusetts, voting lists are considered public information. Registered individuals’ names and addresses appear on voting rolls.

However, there are two separate programs established under Massachusetts law for individuals who wish to vote, but do not want their names and addresses to appear on voter lists. These protections enable survivors of domestic violence, stalking and abuse to register and vote while keeping certain information confidential.

Confidential Voter Registration

One of these programs is called Confidential Voter Registration. If you are a confidential voter, your name and address do not appear on voting rolls and cannot be disclosed to any person.

Confidential voters are assigned a number, which appears on a certificate mailed to them. This same number will also appear in place of a name and address on the voter list. On Election Day, confidential voters present the mailed certificate, with their confidential voter number, to be matched with the number appearing on the voter list. No further identification is required.

Confidential voters may also vote absentee, if legally eligible to do so. This is done by using the confidential voter number in lieu of a name and address on the absentee ballot. Absentee confidential voters fill out the ballot and mail it, along with the certificate bearing their confidential voter number, to the registrar’s office.

To qualify as a confidential voter, you must provide one of the following to your local election office:
a certified copy of a court order granting protection;
a letter affirming your residence in a protective shelter, signed by the director of that shelter; or,
an affidavit from the chief of police stating that you are entitled to confidential voter status.

If you have further questions about Confidential Voter Registration, call the Elections Division at 617-727-2828 or 1-800-462-VOTE.

Address Confidentiality Program

Another program designed to protect the privacy of qualified individuals is the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP). While Confidential Voter Registration is designed specifically to enable individuals to vote, ACP is a much broader program and is not designed specifically to enable voting.

ACP participants receive a substitute address which can be used as a legal address for all interactions with government agencies. ACP participants use this substitute address as their legal address, and then ACP staff members retrieve the participant’s mail and forward it to the participant’s actual location.

To qualify for the ACP program, you must have moved recently and you must be able to show that disclosure of your address threatens your safety or the safety of your children. You must also complete an ACP application with the help of an application assistant.

If you have further questions about ACP, or would like to locate an application assistant, click here, or call 617-727-3261 or 1-866-SAFE-ADD.