Running for Elected Office
Running for Elected Office & City Council Member
We encourage all candidates for all elected offices, for both City-Wide Office to investigate the responsibilities of the post by reading this information:
Electioneering Restrictions
When can political signs be placed:
- Forty-five days (45) prior to election
- The General election takes place on November 4, 2025 - signs maybe erected no earlier than September 20, 2025
Where can political signs be placed:
- Private property: You may place campaign signs on private property with the owner's permission.
- You cannot put campaign signs on municipal property.
Signs must be removed after the election
- Seven days (7) after the election per Zoning Ordinance.
- The building inspector will enforce this law.
On Election Day (including Early Voting), certain electioneering activities are prohibited within 150 feet of the entrance to a polling place per Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 54, Section 65.
Prohibited Activities:
Under state statute and regulations, a person may not do anything within 150 feet of a voting location designed to aid or defeat a candidate or question being voted on in that location.
Prohibited activities include but are not limited to:
- Holding certain political signs
- Wearing certain political apparel (t-shirts, hats, buttons, pins, stickers, etc.)
- Handing out campaign literature
- Distributing stickers for write-in campaigns
- Shaking hands or otherwise greeting voters (while being a candidate on the ballot)
- Asking voters to vote in a certain manner
- Hindering or interfering with voters who are voting or on their way to vote
- Soliciting signatures on any type of petition – whether or not it pertains to the current election
Additional information can be found here.
State law prohibits signature gathering of any kind within 150 feet of a voting location. This includes ballot question petitions, candidate nomination papers, and citizens’ petitions. Materials are considered to influence voters if they contain:
- A candidate’s name
- The name of a candidate’s policy proposal
- A candidate’s slogan or image
- A political party name
Getting Your Name on the Ballot
To have your name appear on the ballot, you must file nomination papers. Nomination papers are available in the City Clerk's office beginning June 2, 2025; have your neighbors and friends who are registered voters sign your papers and submit the signed forms to the City Clerk by the deadline of July 14, 2025.
Requesting Voter Lists
To request a list of voters for either the entire City of Watertown or for a specific Precinct, you may email your request to CityClerk@watertown-ma.gov.
City-Wide Offices
To be considered a candidate for City-Wide Office, you must be at least 18 years old and a registered voter of the City of Watertown.
Signatures of voters required to place the name of a candidate on the official ballot to be used at a preliminary election shall be as follows: for the office of council president and member of the school committee, councilor-at-large, school committee member, or library trustee, not less than one-hundred such signatures, not more than fifty of which shall be from any one district; for the office of district councilor not less than one hundred such signatures from the district from which the nomination is sought. The City Clerk must certify these signatures so we always suggest obtaining about 20 percent more just to be safe.
Withdrawing Your Name From the Ballot
If you have taken out nomination papers and the signatures have been certified, but you change your mind, you may remove your name from the ballot by notifying the City Clerk in writing by the nomination paper filing deadline of July 28, 2025.
Campaign Finance Filings and Requirements
All candidates for City-wide elected office, as well as all those currently serving, must file campaign finance forms with the City Clerk's office eight days before a local election, thirty (30) days after a local election, and a year-end report due January 20th.
Running a PAC Campaign?
To run a PAC campaign in Massachusetts, you must register your committee with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), follow strict rules on contributions and spending, and file regular disclosure reports. The process varies depending on whether your PAC operates at the state or municipal level.
New to Campaign Finance? Find out more.