FY 2027 Uniform Polling Hours Cost Certification Survey

Welcome to the Uniform Polling Hours Cost Certification Survey. The Uniform Polling Hours Law (St. 1983, c. 503) increased the number of hours that polls are required to be open for presidential and state primaries and general elections from ten hours to thirteen hours. The Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor (OSA) manages a certification process for “the incremental costs attributed to [the Uniform Polling Hours Law] and estimated to be incurred by each city and town in the next fiscal year” for each presidential primary, state primary, and general election.

Pursuant to the Uniform Polling Hours Law, for this survey, OSA's Division of Local Mandates (DLM) will certify the estimated additional or increased costs specifically attributable to the first three hours of polling operations for the September 2026 state primary and November 2026 general election. Promptly providing the Uniform Polling Hours estimated expense information requested in this survey will ensure your municipality's costs are considered for certification.