H 882 Massachusetts House · 194th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act updating political terminology

HD 317 amends election laws to standardize political terminology. It replaces the term "Unenrolled" with "Independent" for candidates not affiliated with a political party and for voters who choose not to enroll with a party. The bill prohibits using "Independent" as a political designation for party qualification (requiring designations to be 3 words max, excluding "Independent"), while creating a new category where voters without party enrollment are classified as "Independent." These changes affect candidates seeking ballot access, voters registering without party affiliation, and election officials administering voter registration and ballot procedures.
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Apr 2, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to the committee on Election Laws
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Susannah Whipps
Susannah Whipps
IIndependent
MA
2nd Franklin