Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 138 § 8
If, at any biennial state election, a city in which such board has been appointed shall not vote to authorize the granting of licenses for the sale of any alcoholic beverages, all obligations imposed upon said city by the preceding section shall cease from and after the thirty-first day of December next following such vote and, from and after said date, the powers and duties granted to and imposed upon said board in respect to such licenses as it is authorized to grant under this chapter irrespective of any vote under section eleven and licenses of innholders and common victuallers shall vest in the aldermen of said city. If said city shall, at a subsequent biennial state election again vote to authorize the granting of licenses for the sale of such beverages, the obligations imposed by the preceding section shall be revived and shall attach to said city from and after January first next following such vote and, from and after said date, the powers and duties of the aldermen relative to such licenses shall revest in the licensing board appointed in said city. This section shall not apply to a city wherein by a special statute such a board is vested with all the powers and duties in respect to the granting of licenses of innholders and common victuallers notwithstanding any vote under this chapter.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 138, § 8