Actual Vote in Massachusetts
Poll tapes posted inside, or at closing time only
Information current as of October 2026
This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in Massachusetts for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.
Whether a tape is posted varies by city or town — but Massachusetts has the strongest public floor anywhere: the general public must be allowed inside after the polls close, the results tape is read out loud, and anyone present may check the vote count on the tape for half an hour (950 CMR 54.06). The Secretary of the Commonwealth's Elections Division told us directly that the public may video-record the poll tapes during the counting. Many places — Boston, Springfield, Rehoboth, and others — also post a copy of the results tape on the wall.
Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from Massachusetts yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain: everything on a poll tape is already public.
Poll closing time in Massachusetts: 8 p.m. Anyone still in line at closing time is entitled to vote, so the closing procedure — and the tape — can run later.
This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in Massachusetts as of October 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.
If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in Massachusetts is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.
Your ways to participate in Massachusetts
See how the six ways to help compare →
- 1
Record posted tapes at polling placesNot available in MassachusettsMassachusetts doesn’t post the tape outside the polling place, so the election-night route is being there at the close (use case 2).
- 2
Be there at the close and record the tape
Massachusetts doesn’t require a posted tape, but after polls close the general public must be allowed inside, the results tape is read out loud, and anyone present may check the vote count on the tape for half an hour. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division told us the public may video-record the tapes during the count, and many towns, including Boston, Springfield and Rehoboth, also post a copy on the wall. Be there at the 8 p.m. close and record the tape with the Actual Vote app. Realistically about one location a night.
See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.
- 3
Record early-voting tapes
Massachusetts towns either feed early ballots into each precinct’s tabulator on election day, so they’re on the precinct tape (use case 2), or count them at a central facility, where each precinct’s early-ballot tape is printed after polls close (950 CMR 47.15). Opening and depositing early ballots must be open to the public (c. 54 § 25B). In 2024 about 17% of ballots were cast early in person (EAC election survey). Call your county elections office ahead of time and ask where and when the early-voting tapes will be printed, and whether you may observe and video-record them. If they don’t have a plan to show them, you can politely ask them to display the tapes.
See a detailed example of recording early-voting tapes, based on Cobb County, Georgia.
- 4
Become a poll worker or observer
Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count and the tape.
See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.
- 5
Visit or book an appointment at your county elections office
Election offices can often provide many precincts’ tapes at once — a great way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.
Email/phone script — book an appointment at your Massachusetts county elections office
To: [your county] County elections office
Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes
Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.
We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.
Everything on these tapes is public records under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 66, § 10), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.
See a detailed example of how to do this.
- 6
File a public-records request for poll-tape images
Poll tapes are public records under the Massachusetts Public Records Law. You can request digital copies by precinct and voting method — available in every state, though it captures the tapes later in the chain of custody.
Public-records request email — Massachusetts poll-tape images
To: [your city/town] Clerk's Office
Re: Public records request — [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election] results tapes, [your city/town]
Dear [City/Town] Clerk,
Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 66, § 10, I'm requesting copies of public election data — specifically the precinct results tapes (also called "poll tapes") printed by the ballot-counting equipment at the close of polls, meeting the following criteria:
• From Massachusetts's [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election]
• From all precincts in [your city/town]
• For each voting method that produced a results tape — Election Day (in-person precinct). I understand early-voting and mail ballots are counted centrally, so for those I'm after the corresponding central-count results tape or summary report, if one exists
• The tapes/reports showing candidate-by-candidate vote totals — I don't need the zero or configuration tapes, though including them is fine
• If for any combination above no ballots were cast (so no tape was printed), simply omit it
I understand that under 950 CMR 54.06, the results tape is read aloud after the polls close and the public present may check the count for half an hour — and that the Elections Division has confirmed the public may photograph or video the tape during that process — so I'm simply asking for copies of that same public record after the fact.
Digital scans (emailed or via a download link, in any common format such as .pdf or .jpg) would be ideal; physical copies for pickup or mail are also fine. These are public records, and the totals they show are already in the official published results. They'll be used for legitimate, non-partisan vote-reporting auditing with Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — you can see exactly how it works, and why it's non-partisan, at Start Here.
If you must redact anything beyond precinct name, voting method, and results totals, please go ahead. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption and let me know the appeal options under the law. Please also tell me of any fee in advance — I request a fee waiver, as this analysis is in the public interest, contributes to election transparency, and is not for any commercial purpose.
Because our analysis is most useful before results are certified, I'd be grateful for the data within about a week if possible; if you expect a delay, just let me know when to expect it.
Thank you for considering this request. — [name], [email/phone]See a detailed example of how to do this.
Past Actual Vote poll tape recordings in Massachusetts
Here are some Actual Vote poll tape videos from previous elections by users in Massachusetts. You can make your own in the next election!
America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. We did the comparison analysis with these and other videos from these elections and found all matches. We didn't publish a report at the time, but look for one soon.
Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.
How we know this — and how you can check it
This reflects America Counts’s primary-source review of Massachusetts’s election statutes and Secretary of State guidance, most recently updated in October 2026; the summary at the top of this page and the early-voting card link the provisions it relies on. Procedures can still vary locally, so the surest way to confirm what applies at your polling place or elections office is to call them directly. Found something different? Tell us and we’ll verify it and fix the page.
Find your county's election website
County sites carry polling locations and local contact information. Search "[your county], Massachusetts elections" if a link 404s.
Ready to help?
Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in Massachusetts.