Scope and Content: The state secretary holds constitutional and statutory responsibilities for elections, duties carried out since 1948 in the secretary’s Elections Division.  Pursuant to MGLA c 41, s 15, town clerks are required to transmit to the state secretary a complete list of all town officers elected, immediately after each annual town election.  Returns of elected town officers are certified by the town clerks on forms provided by the secretary.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year, thereunder alphabetically by town
Notes: Returns for 1983-1989, 1991 transferred from Commissions Section. Also known as: E2-41. Returns for 1973-1982, most of 1989 lacking
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Scope and Content: Massachusetts Const Amend Art 21 states the principle of equal representation in voting districts. MGLA c 54, ss 2,6 requires that in the year following the decennial federal census, the city ward/precinct or town precinct divisions be examined in light of population changes recorded by that census, to ensure the equal number of residents in each precinct. The city or town clerk must send notice to the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth forthwith after the city council or the board of selectmen vote to accept a plan. Six items must be submitted: (1) Number and designation (numbers or letters) of wards and precincts and their population (2) Official census map showing new wards and precincts designated by number and letter (3) Physical boundary description of the new wards and precincts which includes the number of residents in each new ward and precinct (4) List of the census tract and block numbers and each block’s population for each precinct (5) Map with the precincts drawn on it (6) Vote of adoption. Changes take effect at the end of year following the census. –All of the above submissions must be certified. When submitted, these materials should be accompanied by a letter from the city or town clerk or election commission that the materials have been certified by a vote of the board of selectmen or board of aldermen or the city council. The Office of Secretary of the Commonwealth transmits these materials to the Local Election District Review Commission (LEDRC). LEDRC is an independent commission charged with the responsibilities of overseeing, supervising and approving the divisions of cities and towns into precincts. While LEDRC is within the department of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, it is not within his supervision or control. LEDRC consists of three members: the attorney general and the state secretary, or their designees, and a third member appointed by the governor. Each member serves at the pleasure of his or her respective designating officer. –LEDRC reviews each plan under the requirements of MGLA c 54 and other relevant constitutional requirements.  LEDRC has the authority to reject submitted plans and to require local authorities to reconfigure their wards and precincts. If the plan is disapproved, LEDRC must clearly spell out the deficiencies in the plan in writing and promptly notify the local officials. If a locality fails to submit a ward and precinct plan or fails to comply with a directive of LEDRC following its review, then LEDRC (or a master appointed by LEDRC) is mandated to make local ward and precinct divisions itself. The cost of any such undertaking by LEDRC is borne by the offending locality.
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Scope and Content: As part of its responsibility for preserving historic structures and sites in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Historical Commission assembles documentation of sites and structures included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and/or the State Register of Historic Places prior to their renovation, alteration, or destruction, as a means of recording their histories and thus complying with the Federal Historic Preservation Act (1966).  Compliance files include Historic American Engineering Record reports, Historic American Buildings Survey reports, and other reports submitted by architects and contractors.
Notes: Collated: 1982-1993
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Scope and Content: As part of its responsibility for preserving historic structures and sites in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Historical Commission issues posters with photographs of such structures and sites to publicize its mission.  Series currently includes four items  commemorating the commission’s twenty-fifth anniversary, 1988, and four (in duplicate) commemorating its thirty-fifth anniversary, 1998.
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Scope and Content: As part of the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s responsibility for identifying and protecting historic sites in Massachusetts, the commission’s state preservation officer acts as the go-between for individuals and developers seeking federal tax breaks under the Tax Reform Act of 1976 for rehabilitation work done to “certified historic structures” (366 CFR pt 67).  In addition the preservation officer makes recommendations about rehabilitation work to the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, the federal agencies that oversee the program.  Tax certification files include applications for historic preservation certification (containing name and address of property owner, location of structure, photographs of the interior and exterior of the building before and after rehabilitation work is completed) and correspondence of the state preservation officer with all interested parties regarding the status of these applications.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by varying spans, thereunder alphabetically by municipality
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Scope and Content: The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), as part of its mission to promote planning initiatives addressing statewide historical records needs and issues, funded the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board (MHRAB)’s 1997-1999 project to write a historical records strategic plan for the Commonwealth. The resulting plan (A community treasure: strategic plan for Massachusetts historical records) served as a road map for the 1999-2001 Massachusetts Documentary Heritage Grant Program, a competitive regrant program funding local projects to promote the documentation, preservation, and use of historical records in Massachusetts. –To fund the program, the MHRAB received –Grants funded reflected MHRAB strategic planning priorities of the identification of, preservation of, access to, awareness of, and education regarding historical documentation in Massachusetts, and of community documentation and collaborations among municipal clerks, public libraries, museums, educators, and historical societies. Projects included: hiring of consultants to survey records and develop local documentation plans, statewide documentation of ethnic and immigrant groups, statewide teacher archival education, community church/religious societies documentation, community economic/manufacturing documentation, agriculture documentation, and appraising municipal video/audio/media collections.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by grant cycle, thereunder by project/locality
Notes: Containers by cycle/grant: Box 1: (1) 1-34. Box 2: (1) 35-39 (2) 1-12 (3) 1-7. Box 3: (3) 8-20 (4) 1-9. Box 4: (4) 10-32. Box 5: (5) 501-525. Box 6: (5) 526-540
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Scope and Content: The Archives Advisory Commission was established in 1973 to advise the state secretary on archival matters and, and as the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board from 1976, to serve as the state-level body for proposals submitted to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant program. Minutes of quarterly meetings document the activities and decisions of the commissions.
Arrangement: 1985-1995: Arranged chronologically in reverse order
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Scope and Content: To assist the Office of the Secretary of State in fulfilling its responsibility to administer laws and regulations governing the activities of legislative agents (lobbyists) employed by special interest groups, the Public Records Division, specifically from the 1980s through its Lobbyist Section, registers and maintains a docket of vital information on each legislative agent, as required by MGLA c 3, s 41.  Prior to 1974 these records were maintained by the sergeant-at-arms of the General Court.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year. –thereunder chronologically by registration date; –thereunder alphabetically by agent.
Notes: Also known as: Docket books; Dockets. –Unboxed vols. (1973-1974) shelved as box 21
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Scope and Content: In fulfilling its responsibility to administer laws and regulations governing the activities of legislative agents (lobbyists) employed by special interest groups, the Office of the Secretary of State maintains filings of itemized expenditures of employers and receipt of money by agents. By the 1970s the activity had been delegated to the Public Records Division, and from the 1980s more specifically to the division’s Lobbyist Section.
Arrangement: In three subseries:  (1) Financial disclosures of employers  (2) Financial disclosures of organizations without agents  (3) Financial disclosures of agents; arranged within each subseries chronologically by year, thereunder alphabetically by organization or agent
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Scope and Content: To assist the state secretary’s office in fulfilling its responsibility to administer laws and regulations governing the activities of legislative agents (lobbyists) employed by special interest groups, the Public Records Division, specifically from the 1980s through its Lobbyist Section, monitors compliance with registration and financial disclosure requirements of MGLA c 3, ss 39-50.  Series is created to receive and investigate reports of possible violations of lobbying law.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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