By Mr. Tisei, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 465) of Richard R. Tisei, Bruce E. Tarr, Michael R.
Knapik, Robert L. Hedlund and other members of the General
Court for legislation relative to the voting procedures of
presidential electors. Election Laws. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 8 of chapter 53 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fourth sentence of the first paragraph, in line 15, the following sentence: “One presidential elector shall be chosen from each congressional district, and two presidential electors shall be chosen at large.”
SECTION 2. Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 148 and inserting in place thereof the following section:
Section 148. The persons chosen as presidential electors shall meet at the state house on the date fixed by federal law next following their election at three o'clock in the afternoon and organize by the choice of a presiding officer and secretary. The state secretary shall call the meeting to order, call the roll of electors, and preside until a presiding officer shall be chosen. The secretary of the electors shall keep a journal of their proceedings and deposit the same in the office of the state secretary, where it shall be recorded and filed. Each at-large presidential elector shall cast his or her ballot for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates whose electors received the highest number of votes in the state. Each congressional district presidential elector shall cast his or her ballot for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates whose electors received the highest number of votes in his or her congressional district.
