Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 54, § 67

One voting list shall be delivered to the ballot clerks and another may be delivered to the officer in charge of the ballot box; provided, however, that the city or town clerk may opt to use only 1 voting list at the check in. When a ballot is delivered to a voter, the voter’s name shall be checked on the voting list and, except where the city or town clerk has opted to not use a check-out list, it shall be checked on the second voting list when the voter deposits the ballot. Where a check-out list is used, the officer in charge of the ballot box and the officer in charge of the voting list shall either: (i) be of different political parties; or (ii) not be of the same political party if the election officers have been appointed pursuant to section 14 without regard to political party membership. No person shall vote if the person’s name is not on the voting list, nor until the local election officer shall check the person’s name thereon, unless the person presents a certificate from the registrars of the city or town as provided by section 51 or section 59 of chapter 51 or unless the person is voting by provisional ballot under section 76C. A city or town may vote to use electronic poll books rather than paper voting lists in accordance with section 33I.