Ballot

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Grand Lodge	Vote Needed	Speaking	Other Comments
Alabama	Unanimous	Members may discuss the character and qualifications of a candidate before the ballot is taken.	Edicts chapter 16
Alaska	unanimous	No discussion is required (not known if any is permitted)	Any member can object in private to the conferring of the EA degree to the WM, and if not withdrawn in 60 days, has the effect of a negative ballot.
Arizona	Unanimous		Code section 78
Arkansas
California	unanimous	Before a ballot is taken there may be discussion of the qualifications of the applicant and the propriety of receiving him into the Lodge.	If a member of the Lodge objects to a petitioner, he may do so in Lodge or privately to the Master. No reason is required. When a petition is read the Master says words to the effect of : Brethren, you have heard the reading of the application of _________ for ________. If there be no objection it will be received. If an objection is stated at this point, the application is never received. If the objection is put forth after this point, either privately to the master or in Lodge, the petition lies over for 60 days and if the objection is not withdrawn in that time the application is declared rejected. Objections may be verbal or in writing.
Colorado
Connecticut	Unanimous
Delaware	Unanimous		Code section 8-67
District of Columbia	unanimous	Names and other information about candidates are required to be in Lodge bulletins, and mailed in sealed envelopes. No speaking about qualifications of candidates	only members of the Lodge voting on the petition can sign the petition
Florida	Unanimous		Code section 35.09
Georgia	Unanimous	ask question about petition only questions about petitioner Not permitted	if mistake is made at the ballot box request must be made to Grand Master to hold another ballot
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana	unanimous	signers do not speak on the petitioner's behalf	the ballet box is held on the Senior Deacons shoulder, so as to not let any brother see how the other brother is voting
Iowa	unanimous	no speaking done about petitioners
Kansas	unanimous		A brother may object to a candidate being Initiated, Passed or Raised in person at the time of the degree, but such an objection is not permanent and if the objecting brother is not present the next time the candidate may receive the degree
Kentucky	Unanimous		Code section 130
Louisiana
Maine	Unanimous	Speaking: Not permitted	The Investigating Committee is a secret, only the Master knows who they are and they are not required to disclose why they recommended or rejected a candidate.
Maryland
Massachusetts	unanimous	We may speak of the candidate between ballots.	Master may make three tries before rejection, then candidate must wait 6 months before re-applying.
Michigan
Minnesota	Unanimous		Code section G14.07
Mississippi
Missouri	3 required to reject		Code section 13.070 (1991-177)
Montana	Unanimous		Code section 38050 But also note 38060. CORRECTION OF POSSIBLE MISTAKE. If only one cube appears the Master, without declaring the result, shall at once order a second ballot which shall be the last for the purpose of correcting a possible mistake. The second ballot shall not be postponed to another meeting of the Lodge. If, despite this section, a second ballot to correct a possible mistake is not taken, the candidate stands as though there had not been a ballot."
Nebraska	Unanimous		Code section 2-1001
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey	unanimous	not permitted to speak about the candidate in Lodge	At our last communication of GL in April it was passed that any member of this jurisdiction may sign a petition. Prior to that, only members of the lodge applied to could sign
New Mexico
New York	When balloting on a new petitioner or an affiliation for membership, it takes 3 black cubes to reject. If the ballot has 1 or 2 cubes it is deemed to be clear.	Lodge bulletin lists names of candidates to be balloted on.	A motion from the floor to accept a brother as an "honorary" member requires a unanimous ballot, no black cubes.
North Carolina	Unanimous		Code section 74-13
North Dakota	unanimous ballot required, but at the 1999 GL meeting, a proposal will be considered to require 2 black cubes to reject
Ohio	Unanimous		Code section 26.01
Oklahoma	Unanimous		Code section U-411
Oregon
Pennsylvania	Unanimous		Code section 21.04
Rhode Island
South Carolina	Unanimous
South Dakota	2 black balls/cubes reject		Code section 4-97 (approved 1993)
Tennessee
Texas	3 or more negative ballots required to reject	Discussion of the candidate is not permitted. Questions about the petition responses are permitted	Three negative ballots = 1 yr rejection Four = 2 year rejection Five or more = 3 year rejection "If the ballot contains only one or two blackballs, and if no protest has been entered against the Petitioner, it shall be declared as favorable." Candidate may re-apply after appropriate time A candidate can be protested at any time during the petition process by verbal communication with the Master of the Lodge. An EA or FC can receive protests against advancement. One protest is counted as the same as a one negative ballot with the same rules as above.
Utah
Vermont
Virginia	unanimous	It is prohibited for the names of candidates to be printed in Lodge bulletins at any time. Signers of petitions are expected to speak about qualifications of candidates for degrees or affiliation, others can speak, too	any Mason from any jurisdiction can sign a petition
Washington
West Virginia	Unanimous
Wisconsin	unanimous		If a negative vote is cast, the Master announces that whoever has a valid reason for rejecting the petitioner must tell it to the Master, in private, within 48 hours. If no one comes forward, the petitioner is elected. If a reason is given, the reason is transmitted to the Grand Master, who sends a written decision to the lodge about whether the reason is a valid Masonic one. If it is, the petitioner is rejected. If it is not, the petitioner is elected. The identity of the objector remains a secret.
Wyoming	unanimous	no speaking done about petitioners
Summary	3 negative votes - black balls or cubes - are needed to reject a candidate in MO, NY, TX 2 negative votes - black balls or cubes - are needed to reject a candidate in SD 1 negative vote rejects in other states (as far as I know) Members may discuss candidates before balloting in AL, CA, MA, VA Members may NOT discuss candidates before balloting in DC, GA, IN, IA, ME, NJ TX Note should be taken of Wisconsin's procedure, which appears to be different from all others.