The federal pattern criminal jury instructions used in Massachusetts tell jurors: “You shall permit your foreperson to preside over your deliberations, and your foreperson will speak for you here in court.”
A Massachusetts model instruction tells the foreperson: “it is your job to facilitate the deliberations among your fellow jurors.” The foreperson “should see that all jurors have a chance to participate in the discussion.” The same instruction adds that the foreperson does “not have a greater voice or vote than any of your fellow jurors.”