Ballot access requirements for political parties in Massachusetts

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Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • As of May 2024, there were two officially recognized political parties in Massachusetts: the Democratic and Republican parties.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Massachusetts allows candidates to use political party designations.

    • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Massachusetts, see this article.

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

    Seal of Massachusetts

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title VIII, Chapter 50, Section 1

    A political party in Massachusetts is defined as any party that, at the last preceding state election, polled for any statewide office at least 3 percent of the entire vote cast for that office. In 2010, for example, 2,319,963 votes (including blank votes) were cast for Attorney General of Massachusetts, meaning that a party seeking recognition would have needed to field a candidate for that office who won at least 69,599 votes. Alternatively, a political party can qualify for state recognition if at least 1 percent of all registered voters are enrolled as members of the party. As of October 2012, for example, a total of 4,342,841 individuals were registered to vote in Massachusetts, meaning that a party seeking recognition would have needed to enroll at least 43,429 members. Such parties are eligible to conduct primary elections.[1][2][3][4]

    A political designation in Massachusetts refers to any designation, expressed in no more than three words, used to qualify a political party. At least 50 registered voters must file a form with the secretary of the commonwealth requesting that they and any other voters may change their registrations to the new designation. There is no stated deadline for filing this request, although any such request filed before December 1 in the year of a state election will not be effective until December 1. Voters who enroll in legal political designations cannot vote in any state or presidential primaries. Political designations may also be used by individual candidates without the intent to qualify a political party.[1][4]

    Maintaining party status

    If a party fails to field a statewide candidate who polls at least 3 percent of the entire vote cast for that office or fails to enroll at least 1 percent of all registered voters, it ceases to be recognized as a political party.[1][4]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of December 2021, there were two recognized political parties in Massachusetts. These are listed in the table below.[5]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Democratic Party of Massachusetts Link Party by-laws
    Republican Party of Massachusetts Link Party by-laws

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Massachusetts General Laws, "Part I, Title VIII, Chapter 50, Section 1," accessed March 18, 2014
    2. ↑ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Return of Votes for Massachusetts State Election, November 2, 2010," accessed March 18, 2014
    3. ↑ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Enrollment Breakdown as of 10/17/2012," November 1, 2012
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts Director of Political Parties and Designations," accessed March 18, 2014
    5. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "How to Run for Office in 2024," accessed May 23, 2024
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