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H842 • 2025

An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes

An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes

Elections
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Steven S. Howitt
Last action
2026-04-02
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5311 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes

An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes By Representative Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes By Representative Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 842) of Steven S.
  • Howitt for legislation to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes.
  • Election Laws.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-02 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5311 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-06-27 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 07/08/2025 from 01:00 PM-04:00 PM in B-1

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Election Laws

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  5. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes
By Representative Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 842) of Steven S. Howitt for legislation to increase the safety and security of unattended ballot boxes. Election Laws.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
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Bill H.842

Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 71A the following new Section:-

Section 71B. Surveillance of Unattended Ballot Drop Boxes

(a) Every election officer in a city or town shall provide 24-hour video surveillance of each unattended ballot drop box within their jurisdiction, and shall post a sign on or near each drop box indicating that it is under constant surveillance.

(b) The cameras used for surveillance: (1) may be motion-activated, (2) shall record footage, and (3) shall be operational during all types of elections.

(c) The footage recorded: (1) may be stored in a cloud storage or physical location, as determined by the city or town, and (2) shall be retained for a minimum of 22 months after each election it records.

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