Who Really Elects the President?
Did you know that the votes you cast in presidential elections are not for candidates but are for a slate of electors pledged to the candidates of your choice? These electors, along with the electors chosen in all the other states, really elect the president and vice president. Collectively referred to as the Electoral College, electors are frequently not listed on the ballot and are almost always unknown to most voters. In other words, America’s voters do not directly elect the two people who hold the highest offices in the land.
Article II, section 1 of the Constitution introduces election by electors:
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Clause 2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The 12th Amendment lays out how the president and vice president are really elected:
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President,…
Why the Electoral College?
The answers to why delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 chose an indirect method for electing the president and vice president lie in the political and social attitudes of the times, as well as the slowness of transportation and communication in the 18th century.
For the most part, delegates to the Constitutional Convention were landowners and businessmen. Some delegates worried about giving direct political power to choose the head of government to those they thought might not be well educated and well informed about important issues.
Delegates also feared that direct elections would cause long delays in electing the president. Months might pass before all the votes from the far-flung towns of the republic would arrive in the nation’s capital.
It was also hoped that the Electoral College system would reconcile the differences between state and federal interests; give less populous states some additional leverage by apportioning electoral votes not in strict proportion to state population; preserve the independence of the presidency from the Congress, and prevent political manipulation of the electoral process.
How does the Electoral College work?
In presidential elections, voters actually cast their ballots for a slate of state electors pledged to a party’s candidates for president and vice president. The Constitution dictates that the number of each state’s electors will be equal to the number of its members of the U.S. House of Representatives plus its two U.S. Senators. With 435 representatives, 100 senators and three electors from the District of Columbia (granted by the 23rd Amendment), there are 538 electors today. A candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes – at least one over half of the total, or 270– to be elected.
The number of each state’s electoral votes can change every 10 years based on the results of the federal Census. The Census determines how the 435 members of the House of Representatives are reapportioned among the states based on population changes. Massachusetts now has 12 electoral votes.
Originally, electors were chosen by state legislatures, by popular vote or by a combination of the two. Today all electors are chosen by popular vote.
Every state but two has a winner-take-all system that awards all of its electoral votes to the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who receive the most votes in the state. For example, in Massachusetts in 2000 Al Gore received over 1.6 million votes while George Bush got almost 900,000. But all of the state’s 12 electoral votes went to Gore.
Maine and Nebraska use a different method. They choose two of their electors by statewide vote and choose one elector in each congressional district.
In some states, both candidates’ and electors’ names appear on the ballot. In others, including Massachusetts, only the candidates’ names appear.
How are electors chosen and what do they do?
Electors are chosen by the parties, in primaries, at conventions, or by a vote of the party’s central committee, often as a reward for faithful party service. In Massachusetts, electors are chosen by meetings of the state parties.
The winning electors meet, usually in their state capitols, on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election. After they are sworn in, each elector casts a separate ballot for president and vice president. On January 6 the sitting vice president, in his capacity as president of the U.S. Senate, opens the votes of the states before both houses of Congress and the votes are tallied. The candidates with the majority of the electoral votes (one over half of the total) for each office are declared president and vice president.
Are electors required to vote for the candidates to whom they are pledged?
The framers, intending that electors would be independent and knowledgeable, did not bind them to vote for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates to whom they were pledged. The majority of states, however, now have laws that bind electors in some way. Massachusetts law requires electors to sign a form pledging they will vote for their party’s candidates.
Electors have broken their pledge on several occasions. One instance was in 1976, when an elector in Washington state, who was pledged to Gerald Ford, voted for Ronald Reagan. The most recent instance was in 2000, when one District of Columbia elector left her ballot blank. “Faithless electors,” as they are called, have never changed the outcome of an election, but it could happen.
What if no one receives a majority of the electoral votes?
The Constitution’s 12th Amendment specifies that if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the three presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes. The Senate chooses the vice president from among the top two vice-presidential vote-getters. In both cases, the Amendment says, “the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote;...” The District of Columbia also has one vote. Since the adoption of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the House has chosen the president once, in 1824.
Can a candidate win the popular vote and still lose the election?
A candidate can receive a majority of the popular vote but not win the majority of electoral votes. This is primarily due to the winner-take-all rule that most states apply and how the electoral votes are apportioned among the states.
Four presidents have lost the popular vote but won the presidency: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and George W. Bush in 2000.
Should the Electoral College be retained?
Hundreds of proposals to amend the Constitution’s electoral vote process have been submitted over the last 200 years but none has been successful. Proposals have ranged from choosing electors by congressional district to completely abolishing the Electoral College and electing the two leaders of the country by popular vote. There are arguments both for and against any change, but there hasn’t been a major effort in Congress to amend the system since 1979.
Where can I find more information about the Electoral College?
The National Archives has a thorough frequently-asked-questions webpage about the Electoral College at www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/faq.html. The Federal Election Commission’s “The Electoral College,” www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf, covers the history and the functioning of the Electoral College system. Several books are also available.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES
AL 9 KY 8 ND 3
AK 3 LA 9 OH 20
AZ 10 ME 4 OK 7
AR 6 MD 10 OR 7
CA 55 MA 12 PA 21
CO 9 MI 17 RI 4
CT 7 MN 10 SC 8
DE 3 MS 6 SD 3
DC 3 MO 11 TN 11
FL 27 MT 3 TX 34
GA 15 NE 5 UT 5
HI 4 NV 4 VT 3
ID 4 NH 4 VA 13
IL 21 NJ 15 WA 11
IN 11 NM 5 WV 5
IA 7 NY 31 WI 10
KS 6 NC 15 WY 3
538 total electoral votes
270 electoral votes needed to win
Article II, section 1 of the Constitution introduces election by electors:
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Clause 2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The 12th Amendment lays out how the president and vice president are really elected:
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President,…
Why the Electoral College?
The answers to why delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 chose an indirect method for electing the president and vice president lie in the political and social attitudes of the times, as well as the slowness of transportation and communication in the 18th century.
For the most part, delegates to the Constitutional Convention were landowners and businessmen. Some delegates worried about giving direct political power to choose the head of government to those they thought might not be well educated and well informed about important issues.
Delegates also feared that direct elections would cause long delays in electing the president. Months might pass before all the votes from the far-flung towns of the republic would arrive in the nation’s capital.
It was also hoped that the Electoral College system would reconcile the differences between state and federal interests; give less populous states some additional leverage by apportioning electoral votes not in strict proportion to state population; preserve the independence of the presidency from the Congress, and prevent political manipulation of the electoral process.
How does the Electoral College work?
In presidential elections, voters actually cast their ballots for a slate of state electors pledged to a party’s candidates for president and vice president. The Constitution dictates that the number of each state’s electors will be equal to the number of its members of the U.S. House of Representatives plus its two U.S. Senators. With 435 representatives, 100 senators and three electors from the District of Columbia (granted by the 23rd Amendment), there are 538 electors today. A candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes – at least one over half of the total, or 270– to be elected.
The number of each state’s electoral votes can change every 10 years based on the results of the federal Census. The Census determines how the 435 members of the House of Representatives are reapportioned among the states based on population changes. Massachusetts now has 12 electoral votes.
Originally, electors were chosen by state legislatures, by popular vote or by a combination of the two. Today all electors are chosen by popular vote.
Every state but two has a winner-take-all system that awards all of its electoral votes to the presidential and vice-presidential candidates who receive the most votes in the state. For example, in Massachusetts in 2000 Al Gore received over 1.6 million votes while George Bush got almost 900,000. But all of the state’s 12 electoral votes went to Gore.
Maine and Nebraska use a different method. They choose two of their electors by statewide vote and choose one elector in each congressional district.
In some states, both candidates’ and electors’ names appear on the ballot. In others, including Massachusetts, only the candidates’ names appear.
How are electors chosen and what do they do?
Electors are chosen by the parties, in primaries, at conventions, or by a vote of the party’s central committee, often as a reward for faithful party service. In Massachusetts, electors are chosen by meetings of the state parties.
The winning electors meet, usually in their state capitols, on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election. After they are sworn in, each elector casts a separate ballot for president and vice president. On January 6 the sitting vice president, in his capacity as president of the U.S. Senate, opens the votes of the states before both houses of Congress and the votes are tallied. The candidates with the majority of the electoral votes (one over half of the total) for each office are declared president and vice president.
Are electors required to vote for the candidates to whom they are pledged?
The framers, intending that electors would be independent and knowledgeable, did not bind them to vote for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates to whom they were pledged. The majority of states, however, now have laws that bind electors in some way. Massachusetts law requires electors to sign a form pledging they will vote for their party’s candidates.
Electors have broken their pledge on several occasions. One instance was in 1976, when an elector in Washington state, who was pledged to Gerald Ford, voted for Ronald Reagan. The most recent instance was in 2000, when one District of Columbia elector left her ballot blank. “Faithless electors,” as they are called, have never changed the outcome of an election, but it could happen.
What if no one receives a majority of the electoral votes?
The Constitution’s 12th Amendment specifies that if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the three presidential candidates who received the most electoral votes. The Senate chooses the vice president from among the top two vice-presidential vote-getters. In both cases, the Amendment says, “the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote;...” The District of Columbia also has one vote. Since the adoption of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the House has chosen the president once, in 1824.
Can a candidate win the popular vote and still lose the election?
A candidate can receive a majority of the popular vote but not win the majority of electoral votes. This is primarily due to the winner-take-all rule that most states apply and how the electoral votes are apportioned among the states.
Four presidents have lost the popular vote but won the presidency: John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and George W. Bush in 2000.
Should the Electoral College be retained?
Hundreds of proposals to amend the Constitution’s electoral vote process have been submitted over the last 200 years but none has been successful. Proposals have ranged from choosing electors by congressional district to completely abolishing the Electoral College and electing the two leaders of the country by popular vote. There are arguments both for and against any change, but there hasn’t been a major effort in Congress to amend the system since 1979.
Where can I find more information about the Electoral College?
The National Archives has a thorough frequently-asked-questions webpage about the Electoral College at www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/faq.html. The Federal Election Commission’s “The Electoral College,” www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf, covers the history and the functioning of the Electoral College system. Several books are also available.
AL 9 KY 8 ND 3
AK 3 LA 9 OH 20
AZ 10 ME 4 OK 7
AR 6 MD 10 OR 7
CA 55 MA 12 PA 21
CO 9 MI 17 RI 4
CT 7 MN 10 SC 8
DE 3 MS 6 SD 3
DC 3 MO 11 TN 11
FL 27 MT 3 TX 34
GA 15 NE 5 UT 5
HI 4 NV 4 VT 3
ID 4 NH 4 VA 13
IL 21 NJ 15 WA 11
IN 11 NM 5 WV 5
IA 7 NY 31 WI 10
KS 6 NC 15 WY 3
538 total electoral votes
270 electoral votes needed to win
Your Vote Makes a Difference
“It’s not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It’s the hand that casts the ballot.”
–President Harry S. Truman
Your vote does make a difference – whether in a national, state, or local election. Many races have been decided by very few votes.
- In 2000 George W. Bush won Florida’s electoral votes by 537 votes out of 5,963,110 votes cast there, giving him the victory in the presidential election.
- In 2008 Al Franken became a U.S. Senator by 312 votes.
- John Liming was elected to the Marblehead, MA Board of Selectmen in 2004 by a single vote.
- One vote gave Larry Rosenblum a seat on the Plymouth, MA Planning Board in May 2000
- A Lansing, Michigan School District bond issue was defeated in 1989 when the final recount produced a tie vote. As a result, the school district had to reduce its budget by $2.5 million.
- Campaigning for a seat on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council on the day of the primary election in 1988, Herbert Connolly lost track of time – and got to his polling place too late to vote. The polls had closed just minutes before. When the ballots were counted later that night, he’d lost by one vote.
- One vote gave Patty Cafferata the victory in a 1980 primary election for a Nevada Assembly seat. Her winning margin might have been larger if three members of her family had remembered to vote!
- In the 1974 New Hampshire Senatorial race, Louis Wyman appeared to be the winner by 355 votes. But after a recount, John Durkin was certified the winner by 10 votes. Another recount made Wyman the winner by two votes. After a year of court battles and controversy, a special election was held; Durkin won.
- Marcus Morton was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1839 by one vote out of 102,066 cast.
Important decisions that affect us all have been made because of very few votes.
- In 2003 Vice President Dick Cheney, as president of the Senate, cast the deciding vote on a Senate tax-cut package amendment that reduced income taxes on capital gains and corporate dividends.
- A tie vote in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1997 defeated a bill to reinstate the death penalty. The tie came about when one representative, who had voted earlier for the death penalty, changed his vote.
- Women won the right to vote in 1920 by the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Tennessee was the last state needed to pass the amendment. One 24-year-old representative, Harry Burn, changed his vote, and the Tennessee legislature ratified the amendment by a vote of 49-47.
- One vote in the Electoral College elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency in 1876.
- One vote in the U.S. Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment conviction in 1868.
- Congress voted to admit Texas to the union in 1845 by a two-vote margin.
Voter turnout makes a difference.
- In the presidential election of 2004, only 47% of the eligible 18-24 year olds voted.
- Voter turnout in 2004 was the highest in a presidential election since 1968.
- Massachusetts ranked 22nd in voter turnout in the nation in the 2004 presidential election.
- The highest voter turnout in a presidential election between 1924 and 2004 was in 1960.
- In 1960, 75% of the voting-age population in Massachusetts voted. In 2004, that number dropped to 59%.
Your vote affects your future and the future of your family, your community, your state and your country.
- National security. Taxes. Education. Health care. Jobs. All of these issues, as well as many others, profoundly shape our lives and play a major role in elections. When voting, you’re not only helping to elect a candidate; you’re also making a statement about what issues are most important to you. You’re voting for your own choices and your own future.
- Elections have consequences far beyond simply who gets into office. Voting not only selects leaders, but it holds them accountable. Our elected officials will be better able to represent us when we express our values and concerns through voting.
- When a large percentage of Americans do not participate in elections, the future of our democracy is threatened. The decisions made by those holding elected office affect us all. Their decisions will have an impact on finding good jobs, how good our schools will be, how much we’ll pay in taxes, whether we can afford adequate health care for ourselves and our families, and how ensuring national security is balanced against protecting our civil liberties. All Americans should have a say in making those decisions, and we have our say by voting.
- Voting equals power. To use that power well, we must understand the issues that are important to us and the nation.
Here’s how to become an active and informed voter who understands the issues at stake in an election.
Find out about voter registration, absentee voting, procedures at the polls and where your polling place is located.
- Before you can vote, you must be registered. And then you must get to the polls. Information about voting and elections is easily available on the Internet. The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, has an extensive, detailed and easy-to-use website about voting in Massachusetts at http://www.votinginfo.info/.
- The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s election website is at www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm.
- For information by phone, call the League of Women Voters’ Voter Information Phone at 800-882-1649 or call the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Citizen Information Line at 800-462-VOTE (8683).
- You can also call your town clerk or city elections office. Their phone numbers are in the white pages of your phone book under the name of your town or city. Look for “Town/City Hall,” “Clerk,” or “Elections Department.” The phone numbers and addresses for all town and city halls in Massachusetts are online at www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleclk/clkidx.htm.
- You can also email your questions about voting to the League at lwvma@lwvma.org.
Find out who’s on the ballot.
- To find information about candidates on the ballot in Massachusetts, go to www.votinginfo.info, the League of Women Voters’ election and voting website.
- You can find election information specific to your community at the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website http://www.wheredoivotema.com/.
Learn about campaign contributions.
- The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has a website that offers information about campaign financing at www.fec.gov/finance_reports.html. You can call the commission at 800-424-9530 or write to 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20463.
- The FEC, created in 1975, is an independent regulatory agency whose duties include disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing the public funding of presidential elections.
- The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group, tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. You can find out where candidates’ campaign contributions come from and who is contributing to which campaigns on its website, http://www.opensecrets.org/. Its phone number is 202-857-0044, and its mailing address is 1101 14th St., NW, Suite 1030, Washington, DC 20005-5635.
- In Massachusetts the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, an independent state agency, administers the Massachusetts campaign finance law. Its website, www.mass.gov/ocpf, provides information on finance reports, guides, forms and legal guidance. You can also contact this agency at 800-462-OCPF (6373) or at John W. McCormack Building, One Ashburton Place, Room 411, Boston, MA 02108.
Get involved in a campaign.
- You can find contact information for candidates and political parties in Massachusetts on the League’s website, www.votinginfo.info, by calling the League’s Voter Information Phone at 800-882-1649, or on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepar/paridx.htm, or by calling the Secretary’s office at 800-462-VOTE (8683).
- Many candidates have their own websites, which give information about how to donate money or volunteer in the campaign. Volunteers hold signs, call potential voters, process mailings, raise money, help with logistical arrangements and more.
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.
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.
Volunteer on Election day
Why Volunteer as a Poll Worker?
- Take a break from work or school to learn how elections are run and help voters exercise their right to vote.
- Use your technical skills to help voters operate new voting machines.
- Use your language skills to help voters whose first language is not English.
- Encourage and inspire your peers to vote.
- Ensure that elections are fair and accurate.
- Protect voters’ rights by ensuring that everyone who wants to vote can and that every ballot is counted.
- The U.S. was 600,000 poll workers short of the number needed to run a smooth election in November, 2004!
- The average age of poll workers nationwide currently is 72!
- All registered voters may apply to be poll workers in any city or town. Also, cities and towns may hire up to two 16 & 17 year olds as poll workers for each polling place.
- No previous training or knowledge is required. Many municipalities offer training sessions.
- Some precincts need poll workers who can also serve as translators.
- Attend training sessions, when offered, with local election officials before Election Day. Then show up for volunteer work!
- Shifts vary among communities. Some cities and towns require that poll workers work the entire time polls are open; others have split shifts.
- Prepare the precinct by setting up voting equipment and organizing materials.
- Provide voters with appropriate ballots.
- Assist voters in completing their ballots if requested.
- Serve as a translator, working before Election Day at the election office or at the polls on Election Day.
- Direct voters to their correct polling place if they are at the wrong precinct.
- Close the precinct and prepare election materials and reports as necessary.
- In many communities poll workers get paid.
- Each city and town has a different process for recruiting poll workers. Call your city or town clerk to find out how to become a poll worker in your community.
- Click the appropriate letter to find information for your city or town. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U W Y
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