Massachusetts Attorney General

Employer / Organization

Massachusetts

Next Election

Nov 08, 2022

Filing Window

May 17, 2022 - Aug 30, 2022

Description

The Attorney General of Massachusetts is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the state. He or she is publicly elected in midterm election years, and is charged with supervising operations of the five bureaus—executive, business and labor protection, criminal, government and public protection—which make up the department of the attorney general.[1] The attorney general serves four-year terms and is not subject to term limits. Unlike most states which mandate that proponents of an initiative must first file with the secretary of state, Massachusetts guidelines require that a ballot first be submitted to the attorney general. At least 10 qualified voters must submit their contact information, certificate of voter registration and the full text of the ballot. The attorney general bears the responsibility of determining whether the petition is an acceptable subject of the initiative, and if so, he or she prepares a concise summary and returns this summary and the proposed law to the petitioners. If the attorney general determines the petition relates to an excluded matter, the petition is disallowed. If the ballot passes review, it will then be returned to the proponents who may then submit it to the secretary of commonwealth (also known as the secretary of state). The salary for this position is $130,582/year.

Application Guidelines
To file as an independent candidate for a partisan office follow these three steps: 1) Contact the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division to confirm that your registered address qualifies you for the position you intend to run for, and that you meet other office specific qualifications. Obtain the candidacy filing forms and petitions either in person or by mail. 2) Complete the required candidacy paperwork including petition requirements, campaign finance forms and other office specific requirements. Campaign finance forms are to be submitted to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance for state positions and the Federal Elections Commission for federal candidates. State positions require 300 and 150 signatures for State Senate and State Representative respectively. To run for U.S. Representative, 2,000 signatures are required. 3) Submit the nomination papers to the local registrar or clerk in order to be certified authentic by four weeks prior to the last Tuesday in May if you are running for a state position. If you are running for U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator, the signatures are due to the local registrar or clerk by four weeks prior to the last Tuesday in August. After being certified by a local registrar or clerk, signature petitions are due to the Massachusetts Secretary of State Elections Division the last Tuesday in May for state positions and the last Tuesday in August for U.S. Representative and U.S. Senate positions. Listed below is the phone number of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division, which serves as the point of contact for any questions or concerns. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division can be reached at (617) 727-2828 and the Massachusetts Candidates Guide can be found here: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Candidates-Guide-2016.pdf

Submit application to:
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, McCormack Building, One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA, 02108, US