General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 55 Disclosure and Regulation of Campaign Expenditures and Contributions
- Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions - Chapter 55, Section 1
For the purpose of this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the following words shall have the following meanings: “Ballot question...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Accounts of contributions and expenditures; violations; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 2
Every candidate shall keep detailed accounts of all contributions received by him, or by a person acting on his behalf, and of all expenditures made...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Director of campaign and political finance; selection; term; powers and duties; judicial review of decisions; procedure for violations; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 3
The state chairman of each of the two leading political parties, the state secretary, and a dean of a law school located in the commonwealth,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1986, 631, Sec. 3 - Chapter 55, Section 4
Repealed, 1986, 631, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Political committees; statement of organization; officers; duties; expenditures; incorporation; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 5
Each political committee shall organize by filing with the director or, if organized for the purpose of a city or town election only, with the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Elected public officials; principal officers of political action committees - Chapter 55, Section 5A
No candidate or individual holding elective public office shall establish, finance, maintain, control or serve as a principal officer of a political action committee; provided,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Names or phrases identifying political committees in organizational statements - Chapter 55, Section 5B
(a) Every political committee, other than a political party committee or a candidate’s committee, shall name and identify itself in its organizational statement pursuant to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Restrictions on expenditures; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 6
A political committee organized or operating on behalf of a candidate for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state secretary, treasurer and receiver...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Contributions from political action committees; limitations - Chapter 55, Section 6A
A candidate and such candidate’s committee shall not accept any contribution from a political action committee if such contribution would result in such candidate and...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Ballot question committee; contributions - Chapter 55, Section 6B
A ballot question committee may receive, pay and expend money or other things of value solely for the purpose of favoring or opposing the adoption...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Receipts, disbursements and contributions regulated; limitations; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 7
No person or combination of persons, including a corporation formed under the provisions of chapter one hundred and eighty, shall in connection with any nomination...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Campaign contributions to candidates from individuals; limitation; contributions from legislative and executive agents; contributions from gaming licensee - Chapter 55, Section 7A
(a)(1) An individual may make campaign contributions to candidates or candidate’s committees; provided, however, that the aggregate of all such contributions for the benefit of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Political contributions by corporations; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 8
No corporation carrying on the business of a bank, trust, surety indemnity, safe deposit, insurance, railroad, street railway, telegraph, telephone, gas, electric light, heat, power,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Media organization offering time and space to qualified candidates at no cost or reduced price; limitations - Chapter 55, Section 8A
(1) As used in this section the following words shall have the following meanings:— “Media organization”, any corporation, partnership or trust which owns or controls...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Contributions and expenditures over $50; use of credit card by committee; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 9
No individual, candidate or political committee, or person acting on behalf of said individual, candidate, or political committee, shall accept a contribution of money from...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Contributions by electronic means; acceptance by political action committees; authorization cards - Chapter 55, Section 9A
A political action committee may accept contributions of money from individual contributors by direct deposit of funds into the committee’s bank account by wire transfer...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Name and address of donor; disclosure; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 10
No person shall, directly or indirectly, make a campaign contribution in any name except his own nor in any manner for the purpose of disguising...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Treatment of contributions to candidates through intermediaries or conduits - Chapter 55, Section 10A
(a) Contributions made by a person to or on behalf of a particular candidate, including contributions made through an intermediary or conduit, shall be treated...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Solicitations from candidates prohibited; exception; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 11
No person, no political committee and no person acting under the authority of a political committee or in its behalf, shall demand, solicit, ask or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Soliciting of money for nomination papers prohibited; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 12
No political committee, and no person acting under its authority or in its behalf, shall demand or solicit from any candidate for nomination to elective...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Solicitation or receipt of political campaign contributions by appointive public officers or employees prohibited; exception; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 13
No person employed for compensation, other than an elected officer, by the commonwealth or any county, city or town shall directly or indirectly solicit or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Soliciting contributions in public buildings prohibited; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 14
No person shall in any building or part thereof occupied for state, county or municipal purposes demand, solicit or receive any payment or gift of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Political contributions by public officers or employees restricted; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 15
No officer, clerk or other person in the service of the commonwealth or of any county, city or town shall, directly or indirectly, give or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Requiring political contributions or services of persons in public service prohibited; penalty - Chapter 55, Section 16
No person in the public service shall, for that reason, be under obligation to contribute to any political fund, or to render any political service,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Obligation to make political contribution or render political service; penalty - Chapter 55, Section 16A
No person doing business with the commonwealth shall, for that reason, be under obligation to contribute to any political fund, or to render any political...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Obligation to make political contributions or render political service by persons employed for compensation; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 16B
No person employed for compensation shall be under any obligation to contribute to any candidate or political committee, or to render any political service on...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Public service status of officers or employees protected relative to political contributions; penalty - Chapter 55, Section 17
No officer or employee of the commonwealth or of any county, city or town shall discharge, promote, or degrade an officer or employee, or change...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Reports of contributions and expenditures; persons required to file; contents; reporting periods; time limits; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 18
Each candidate and each treasurer of a political committee shall, except as provided in this section and section 24, file with the director reports of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Reports of independent expenditures - Chapter 55, Section 18A
(a) Every individual, group or association not defined as a political committee who makes independent expenditures in an aggregate amount exceeding $250 during any calendar...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Candidate or elected official sponsoring fund raising event on behalf of non-resident candidate; reports of contributions; penalty - Chapter 55, Section 18B
Each candidate or elected official who sponsors a fund raising event in the commonwealth on behalf of a non-resident candidate shall file with the director...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Electronic reporting system; candidates and political committees; campaign finance reports and activity statements - Chapter 55, Section 18C
(a) The director shall develop an electronic reporting system for the submission, retrieval, storage and public disclosure of campaign finance reports and financial activity statements...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Expenditures by vendors on behalf of a political committee - Chapter 55, Section 18D
(a) For the purpose of this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— “Expenditure”, any payment made...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Legal defense, inauguration or recount funds - Chapter 55, Section 18E
(a) Legal defense funds may be created by a candidate or the candidate’s political committee to defend against a criminal matter or to pay costs...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Electioneering communication expenditures - Chapter 55, Section 18F
Every individual, group or association not defined as a political committee who makes an electioneering communication expenditure, in an aggregate amount exceeding $250 during a...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Independent expenditure or electioneering communication; disclosure statement regarding identity of financially responsible individual or entity; form; penalty for violation - Chapter 55, Section 18G
An independent expenditure or electioneering communication which is transmitted through paid radio, television or internet advertising shall include a statement disclosing the identity of the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Campaign funds; designation of depository - Chapter 55, Section 19
(a) Candidates for nomination or election to the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and receiver general, auditor, governor’s...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 335, Sec. 2 - Chapter 55, Section 20
Repealed, 1979, 335, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 335, Sec. 3 - Chapter 55, Section 21
Repealed, 1979, 335, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Persons or corporations making contributions; filing of reports with director; penalties - Chapter 55, Section 22
Any person or the treasurer of a corporation, association, organization or other group of persons, other than a political committee organized under section 5, which...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Expenditures for political purpose; report; punishment for violation; examination of accounts - Chapter 55, Section 22A
The treasurer of any city, town, or other governmental unit which has given, paid, expended or contributed, or promised to give, pay, expend or contribute...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Persons acting for political committees; accounts and vouchers to treasurers - Chapter 55, Section 23
Whoever, acting under the authority or in behalf of a political committee, receives any money or its equivalent, or promise of the same, or expends...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Place for filing statements or reports; signing - Chapter 55, Section 24
If the statement or report required to be filed by a candidate, treasurer or other person relates to a nomination or election to a city...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Preservation of statements and reports by director; public inspection and reproduction - Chapter 55, Section 25
The director shall retain all statements and reports filed with his office under the provisions of this chapter by candidates and their committees until December...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Preservation of statements and reports by city or town clerk; public inspection and reproduction; posting of campaign finance reports required by Sec. 18 on website - Chapter 55, Section 26
The city or town clerk shall retain all statements and reports required to be filed with such clerk until December 31st of the sixth year...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Furnishing blanks and forms for statements and reports, and summary of laws - Chapter 55, Section 27
The director shall furnish to city and town clerks at the expense of the commonwealth, blanks and forms approved by him and by the attorney...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Inspection of statements and reports; delinquencies; notice; filing - Chapter 55, Section 28
The clerk of cities and towns shall inspect all statements and reports of candidates, or nonelected political committees supporting such candidates, filed with them, within...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Failure to file statement, report or affidavit; notice to and duties of director and attorney general - Chapter 55, Section 29
Upon failure to file a statement, report or affidavit within 10 days after receiving notice under section 28, the city or town clerk, as the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Courts’ authority to compel filing of statements - Chapter 55, Section 30
The supreme judicial or superior court may compel any person failing to file a statement as above required, or filing a statement not conforming to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Immunity of witnesses - Chapter 55, Section 31
No person compelled to testify in any proceedings under section thirty shall be liable to criminal prosecution for any matters or causes in respect of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Corrupt practices by candidate defined - Chapter 55, Section 32
A candidate shall be deemed to have committed a corrupt practice who commits any of the following offences: Making or permitting any person or non-elected...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Election petitions for corrupt practices; procedure - Chapter 55, Section 33
(a) If the attorney general or five or more voters have reasonable cause to believe that a corrupt practice, as defined in section thirty-two, has...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Application of preceding sections - Chapter 55, Section 34
Sections one to thirty-three, inclusive, shall apply to all public elections and to elections by the general court and by city councils and by either...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Inquests upon complaint for violations - Chapter 55, Section 35
Upon a complaint subscribed and sworn to by any person before a district court, alleging that reasonable grounds exist for believing that any law relating...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Conduct of inquests - Chapter 55, Section 36
The court may exclude all persons whose presence is not necessary at such inquest; and may also direct the witnesses to be kept so separated...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Witnesses; attendance; process; fees - Chapter 55, Section 37
Such court or attorney may issue subpoenas for witnesses, who shall be allowed the same fees, whose attendance may be enforced in the same manner,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Stenographer - Chapter 55, Section 38
Such court may employ a stenographer and may have the proceedings reduced to writing; and, if he finds that the law has been violated, shall...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Witnesses; binding over to superior court - Chapter 55, Section 39
The court may bind over, as in criminal prosecutions, such witnesses as are necessary, or as said attorney may designate, to appear and testify in...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Apprehension of offenders - Chapter 55, Section 40
If a person charged by the report with the commission of an offence is not in custody, the court shall forthwith issue a process for...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Witnesses; compulsory testimony; immunity - Chapter 55, Section 41
No person shall be excused from testifying or producing any papers in any inquest proceedings under sections thirty-five to forty, inclusive, on the ground that...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Forwarding certified copy of record of final judgment or conviction to city or town clerk; disqualification of defendant as voter - Chapter 55, Section 42
The director in proceedings based upon an election petition, as provided in section thirty-three, and the clerk of the court wherein a person is convicted...
Last modified: September 11, 2015