Election: Town Committees (Democrat/ Republican)

How to Run for Ward or Town Committee

The 2024 Massachusetts Presidential Primaries will be held on March 5, 2024. In addition to candidates for President of the United States, the ballots will also include the party offices of state committee and ward or town committee.

In Massachusetts, ward and town committees are the building blocks of political parties. In towns, party town committees are elected town-wide. In cities, party committees are elected by voters in each ward (MGL, c52, §1-10).

• Representing their party at the local and neighborhood level; and
• Promoting the objectives of the party; and
• Working for the nomination and election of party candidates.

Party Enrollment Requirements:

If you would like to run for your local ward or town committee, you must first be a registered member of a political party.

To run for party committee, you must be a registered member of your party as of Wednesday, August 23, 2023.

To be eligible to run, you also cannot have been registered with a different political party (Democratic, Republican, or Libertarian) since November 21, 2022.

If you are a new voter in Massachusetts, and you register to vote for the first time after August 23, 2023, you must be an enrolled member of your party as of the day you registered to vote.

Getting Started:

Candidates for ward or town committee must circulate nomination papers in order to have their names printed on the ballot. Candidates may run together as a slate, or as individual members.

• Join an existing candidate slate; or
• Start your own slate of candidates; or
• Run as an individual candidate.

Nomination Papers:

Nomination papers will be released to candidates on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. Papers will be available at the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division at One Ashburton Place, in Boston. Papers will also be available at select city and town election offices.

You may contact the Elections Division at 617-727-2828 to request to receive your papers by mail. Papers cannot be provided electronically.

Signature Requirements:

To be nominated to run for ward or town committee, you need at least 5 registered voters to sign your nomination papers.

• Registered in your party; or
• Not registered in any party

Try to gather more than the 5 signatures, in case any are illegible or disqualified.

Number of Seats to be Elected:

A ward or town committee may elect no fewer than 3 members and no more than 35 members. Each existing ward and town committee must meet to vote on the number of members the committee wishes to elect at their 2024 Presidential Primary.

Democratic and Republican committees have until August 1, 2023 to vote to change the number of members they wish to elect. A form was sent to each committee chair in late June, which may be used to update the number of members to be elected.

If the Elections Division does not receive notice of a change from a ward or town committee by August 1, 2023, that committee will be allowed to elect the same number of members as it chose to elect in 2020.

Filing Nomination Papers:

Nominations papers will need to be submitted to your city or town election office no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, November 10, 2023.

Your local election official will certify that each candidate listed on the nomination paper meets the party enrollment and registration requirements, certify the names of the signers who nominated the candidates, and return the papers to you.

After picking up your nomination papers from your local election office, you must submit them to the Elections Division, no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.

The Elections Division strongly encourages in-person filing of nomination papers. While papers will be accepted by mail, papers cannot be accepted if they are received after the deadline, no matter the date of the postmark.

Calendar of Events

Below is a calendar of dates and deadlines for state committee candidates to be aware of. All deadlines are at 5 p.m., unless otherwise noted.