First, yes the President will be on the ballot. There will be a Democratic Ballot, a Republican Ballot, and a Green-Rainbow Ballot. Independent/Unenrolled voters get to choose their ballot.
Democratic
Candidates
Barack
Obama
Republican
Candidates
Ron
Paul
Mitt Romney
Rick Perry
Rick Santorum
Jon Huntsman
Michele Bachmann
Newt Gingrich
Mitt Romney
Rick Perry
Rick Santorum
Jon Huntsman
Michele Bachmann
Newt Gingrich
Green-Rainbow
Candidates
Kent
Mesplay
Jill Stein
Harley Mikkelson
Jill Stein
Harley Mikkelson
Second, candidates for the Democratic Committees of the 6 Wards will also be on the ballot. Those candidates submitted signature sheets to the City Clerk in the Fall. In Newburyport, the 6 Ward Committees collectively form the City Committee. To be a member of a Ward Committee/City Committee, you need to be a Democrat who gets voted in during this Presidential Primary or (and this is much more common) gets voted in during a meeting of the City Committee.
In Newburyport, we will need to meet by April 9th to ‘organize’ our Committee.
From the MA Secretary of State’s website:
The
basic legal organization of political parties in Massachusetts are the ward and
town committees. Each political party may elect a ward or town committee
consisting of three to thirty-five members in each ward of a city and in each
town for a four year term. Members of ward and town committees serve in the
following capacities:
•
represent their party at the local neighborhood level;
•
promote the objectives of the party; and
•
work for the nomination and election of party candidates.
Organization
of Ward and Town Committees
Following
the presidential primary elections, each elected ward, town and city committee
is required by law to organize by meeting within ten days following the 30th
day after their election. At this first meeting the committee will elect a
chairperson, a treasurer and a secretary. The committee may also fill any
vacancies that have not been filled at the presidential primary and has the
right to break any tied vote for a position on the committee by choosing between
the two or more candidates who were tied.
Any
ward or town committee member who moves to another ward or town automatically
loses his membership on the committee at the end of that calendar year, if they
don’t resign sooner. Any member who changes party enrollment or unenrolls from
the party immediately loses his or her membership from the committee. Vacancies
may be filled by vote of the committee. A committee may also appoint associate
members. There is no limit on the number of associate members, but associate
members do not have the right to vote at committee meetings.
A
city committee is not separately elected, but is composed of the several ward
committees in a city. At its organizational meeting, which is held between the
31st and 40th days after the presidential primary, the city committee is
required to elect a chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer.
Filing
Officers’ List and Acceptances
After
the organizational meeting, the secretary of each city, ward and town committee
is required to file lists of officers and members, with their addresses.
Additionally, in order to qualify for office, the treasurer of each committee
is required to file a signed acceptance of the office of treasurer with the
Office of Campaign and Political Finance. A treasurer has not fully qualified
for office until such filing is complete. To meet all of the above filing
requirements, a reporting form, available from both the Office of Campaign and
Political Finance and the Elections Division, must be filed with the four offices
listed below. File the original report with the Office of Campaign and
Political Finance, and file copies with the three other offices listed:
1.
Office of Campaign and Political Finance, One Ashburton Place, Room 411,
Boston, Massachusetts 02108 (617-979-8300);
2.
Secretary of the Commonwealth, Elections Division, One Ashburton Place, Room
1705, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 (617-727-2828);
3.
State Party Committee Headquarters; and
4.
City/town clerk or Election Commission.
Ward
committee secretaries are also required to file such lists with the city
committee chairperson within ten days after organizing.
