Section 48.05 - Format- Back Side of Petition(1)Attention Voters. The petition form prepared by the Secretary of the Commonwealth may include on the back of the petition form the following, or substantially similar, statement: "ATTENTION VOTERS: Before signing, read signer information on other side."(2) Below the last line of the Signature Gathering Box shall appear a warning which shall read as follows: WARNING- criminal penalty for unlawfully signing, altering, defacing, mutilating, destroying, or suppressing this petition: fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to one year.
The penalty contained in the warning shall be that found in M.G.L. c. 56, § 11.
(3)Registrar Information Area. petition form prepared by the Secretary of the Commonwealth may include an area containing information and instructions to Registrars of Voters. If such an area is included on a petition form, the codes used by the Registrars of Voters when certifying signatures, found at 950 CMR 55.00, et seq., shall be placed upon the petition form in this area. Further, instructions to Registrars of Voters may include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) You must time-stamp or write in date and time these papers are received;(b) Check thus [Square Root] against the name of each qualified voter to be certified;(c) For names not certified, use the code at the right;(d) Draw a line through any blank spaces not containing signatures;(e) Each sheet must be certified by at least three registrars;(f) A facsimile stamp is acceptable; and(g) The date on which certification must be completed.(4)Certification of Signatures Box. The petition form prepared by the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall include a Certification of Signatures Box in which the Registrars of Voters of the certifying municipality shall indicate the name of the city or town, the county in which it is located, and the month and date of certification. Further, the box shall contain the statement "We certify that (number of names certified- use numbers and words) above signatures checked thus [Square Root] are names of qualified voters from this city or town."