{"data":{"id":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-56-42","jurisdiction":"us-ma","citation":"Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 56, § 42","heading":"False statements relating to candidates or questions submitted to voters","body":"Section 42. No person shall make or publish, or cause to be made or published, any false statement in relation to any candidate for nomination or election to public office, which is designed or tends to aid or to injure or defeat such candidate.\nNo person shall publish or cause to be published in any letter, circular, advertisement, poster or in any other writing any false statement in relation to any question submitted to the voters, which statement is designed to affect the vote on said question.\nWhoever knowingly violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.","path":["Part I","Title VIII","Chapter 56"],"source_url":"https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter56/Section42","current_through":"amendments passed before May 31, 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T05:20:51Z","sha256":"3a135cacdae4044fcc85112fb8a068ba3c7a9417a4cc4fcc6f869a1b3f5951fa","source_id":"us-ma","stale":false,"prev":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-56-41a","next":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-56-43"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}