How to Run for
President in Massachusetts

Qualifications

The qualifications for President of the United States are set forth in the U.S. Constitution. A candidate for president must be 35 years old and a natural born citizen of the United States. There are two ways to run as a candidate in Massachusetts: as a party candidate in the presidential primary, or as a non-party candidate directly in the November election.

Presidential Primary

Party candidates for president may run in the presidential primary. The next presidential primary is scheduled to be held on March 2, 2004. At the presidential preference primary, voters select a candidate to represent their party for president at the November presidential election.

There are three ways for the names of presidential candidates to be placed on the presidential primary ballot:

• Candidates may file nomination papers with at least 2500 certified signatures. For primary ballot placement, signatures of at least 2,500 voters must be certified by local election officials and subsequently filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.*
  
  
• The Secretary of the Commonwealth may place candidates on the ballot who have been generally advocated or recognized in the national news media.
  
  
• The chairperson of each party’s state committee may designate names to be listed.

The presidential primary ballot also includes a “No Preference” choice and a write-in space to indicate presidential preference.

General Election

In the General Election in November, other candidates, not running as party candidates, may run under a political designation (of up to three words) or without any designation. Such unenrolled candidates run against those candidates nominated by the party state committees. The unenrolled candidates must circulate nomination papers to get their names on the ballot.* An unenrolled candidate seeking to have his or her name placed on the ballot must obtain at least 10,000 certified signatures on such nomination papers. These papers must include the names of the twelve elector candidates for each presidential candidate and vice-presidential running mate. Although only the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates appear on the ballot, it is the electors who cast the actual votes for president and who actually are elected in November. Write-in candidates may also run, but only if their names and their slate of elector candidates have been filed by September 3, 2004 with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

* NOTE: Nomination papers cannot be altered in any way. Additional markings on the papers may disqualify any signatures contained thereon.

Electoral College

Historical Background

When the Constitution was written, the people were widely dispersed and isolated with limited means of transportation and communication. For this reason and because of the suspicion that the people could not be trusted to vote wisely, the vote for president was entrusted to the electors. Although the original constitutional provisions have been changed by subsequent amendments and laws, the electoral college is still part of the process. Thus, when voters cast their votes for president and vice-president, they are in actuality voting for electors. In turn, these electors vote for the president and vice-president.

The Constitution requires that each state appoint “ a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress.” Since Massachusetts has two senators and ten representatives, it is therefore entitled to twelve electors. Although the number of electors is determined by the Constitution, each state has been delegated the right to choose the method of selecting them. United States senators and representatives and any person “holding an office of trust or profit under the United States” are prohibited from being electors by the Constitution.

Selection of Electors in Massachusetts

Massachusetts elector candidates must be registered voters of the Commonwealth. They pledge to vote for their party’s nominees or for those candidates on whose nomination papers their names were listed as elector candidates. Their names must be filed according to the following guidelines:

• For elector candidates pledged to the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates nominated at the party’s national convention:
  The state committees of the respective political parties select their presidential electors. These names, with written acceptances and their pledges to vote for the candidate named in the filing, must be filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth by the second Tuesday of September. M. G. L. c. 53, § 8 (1998 ed.). In the year 2004, this deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 14, 2004.
  
  
• For elector candidates pledged to non-party candidates:
  The nomination papers for unenrolled candidates for president have spaces for the names and addresses of the candidates for president, vice-president and their twelve elector candidates, and such names are filed as part of the nomination papers. Elector candidates pledged to unenrolled party candidates for president must not be enrolled in any recognized political party in Massachusetts for the 90 day period preceding the filing deadline for nomination papers with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. M. G. L. c. 53, §§ 6, 9 (1998 ed.). The filing deadline with the Secretary of the Commonwealth for nomination papers for elector candidates pledged to non-party candidates is no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 2004.
  
  
• For elector candidates pledged to write-in or sticker candidates:
  Write-in or sticker candidates for president and vice-president select their own elector candidates. These twelve names, with the written acceptance of the elector candidates, are filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth at least 60 days before the date of the election. M. G. L. c. 54, § 78A (1998 ed.). Therefore, the final filing deadline with the Secretary of the Commonwealth is no later than 5:00 p.m. on September 3, 2004.

Electoral College Proceedings

The electors whose presidential and vice-presidential candidates received the plurality of the votes in Massachusetts meet at the State House on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which is December 13, 2004. After they are sworn in by the Governor and choose a presiding officer and secretary, each elector casts a separate ballot for president and vice-president. These votes, cast on the same day in each of the states, are transmitted to the houses of Congress between January 3rd and January 20th. The candidates receiving an absolute majority (270) of the electoral votes are declared President and Vice-President of the United States.

Schedule of Filing Deadlines:

2004 Presidential Primary Calendar of Events (PDF, 142k)

2004 Massachusetts State Primary and State Election Schedule (PDF, 145k)