Counties in Massachusetts
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Top 100 cities by population |
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in the 100 largest cities in America by population and the largest counties that overlap those cities. This encompasses all city, county, judicial, school district, and special district offices appearing on the ballot within those cities.
This page includes the following resources:
- The county governments covered by Ballotpedia in Massachusetts
- A list and map of counties in Massachusetts
- An overview of local elections in Massachusetts
- An overview of the initiative process in Massachusetts
Counties
County government
Click the link below for information about the county government in Ballotpedia's coverage scope:
Full list of counties
According to a 2022 study from the U.S. Census Bureau, this state's local governments consist of five counties, 351 cities, towns, and villages, and 415 special districts. Nine counties—Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Suffolk, and Worcester—have been abolished and are classified as nonfunctioning legal entities.[1]
The following table defaults to displaying only 25 counties at a time. To change the number of counties displayed, use the drop-down menu above the upper left-hand corner of the table. You can also use the search bar above the upper-right corner of the table to look up a specific county.
Map of counties
Counties in blue on the map below are part of Ballotpedia's county coverage scope:
Elections
Click the links below for information about the elections held in each municipality. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of municipalities that held elections each year in this state; click here to learn more about Ballotpedia's local government coverage scope.
2024
2023
2022
Ballotpedia expanded its coverage of local elections in Massachusetts in 2022. Click here to find your county, or click the links below for additional information about the following municipalities:
2021
2020
Past elections
Initiative process availability
The local units of government in Massachusetts that make the initiative process available are:
- General law cities operating under government types A, B, C, D, E, and F as specified in Chapter 43 of Mass. General Laws have a state specified initiative and referendum process for ordinances. There are 25 such cities.
- Home rule charter cities and towns have a state mandated initiative process for charter amendments. There are 90 such municipalities.
- Charter counties have a state mandated initiative and referendum process. However, no county has yet become a charter county under the statutes mandating initiative and referendum. One county, Barnstable, has a charter that was a special act of the legislature and is not subject to the amendment process provided in state statutes. However, its charter provides a process for initiative and referendum for charter amendment.[2]
See also
| Massachusetts | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Massachusetts municipal code library
- Massachusetts state government website
Footnotes
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