How to Run for Winchester Town Meeting

Winchester Town Meeting

Winchester Town Meeting is the town’s legislative and appropriating governmental body.  Winchester has a Representative Town Meeting, which means that our Town Meeting members are elected.  Winchester’s Town Meeting has 192 members, with 24 members elected from each of the town’s eight precincts. (See precinct maps.) 

The Winchester Town Meeting operates under Massachusetts General Laws and is governed by the Winchester Home Rule Charter and Code of Bylaws. For more information, visit the Town Meeting page of the town’s website.

Terms and Election 

Town Meeting members serve for a term of three years. Terms are staggered so that one-third of Town Meeting seats (eight seats in each precinct, for a total of 64 seats) are up for election each year.  

The Town Election is held in March every year. Registered voters may vote for up to eight Town Meeting representatives (from the voter’s precinct only) and for candidates running for town-wide elected offices. Successful Town Meeting candidates are sworn in at the start of the Spring Town Meeting.  

(Note:  From year-to-year, more than eight seats may be open in a precinct. If a Town Meeting member resigns from Town Meeting before the end of their three-year term, their seat will be open for election at the Town Election as a one- or two-year term depending on when the resignation was submitted. If a Town Meeting member resigns after the March Town Election but before the Fall Town Meeting, their seat may be filled temporarily by vote of the precinct members at the time of the Fall Town Meeting. A Town Meeting member holding a temporary appointment will serve until the next Town Election.)  

Procedure for New Candidates for Town Meeting

New candidates for election to Town Meeting must file nomination papers with the Town Clerk’s Office. 

1. You must be a registered voter at your Winchester address.

2. You must stop into Town Hall on or before the published deadline to register as an official candidate for Town Meeting and obtain a nomination petition.

3. You must obtain 10 valid signatures of voters in your Winchester precinct who agree to support your candidacy. (Signatures will be validated by the Town Clerk and the Registrars of Voters, so ask signers to write legibly. You may wish to collect a few extra signatures.)

4. Return your papers to the Town Clerk’s Office on or before the published deadline. You can return the papers to the Town Clerk’s Office in person during business hours, deposit the papers in one of the drop boxes outside Town Hall or send them in by postmarked USPS mail. 

5. Town Meeting members do not need to file campaign finance reports.
   
   

Procedure for Incumbent Town Meeting Members Running for Re-election

Candidates for re-election must notify the Town Clerk’s Office that they want to be on the ballot.  

1.     Incumbent Town Meeting members who wish to run again at the end of their three-year term are not required to obtain signatures; however, 

2.     Incumbents must notify The Town Clerk’s staff by the published deadline that they want to appear on the ballot for re-election.  

Visit the Town Clerk’s website to view the official election notices, instructions and the current election calendar or contact the Town Clerk’s office at 781-721-7130.