Just what are you measuring?

Is there a problem you are trying to solve?

Are you using a digital meter? They are often close to useless due to the phantom voltages they often exhibit.

Thank you guys. I think pjb999 has the answer about the phantom voltage factor, although I'm not sure if my son-in-law used a digital meter when he took a reading of the wall switch he thought was defective when the lights did not go on. However, my daughter sent me a Wikipedia site that explains the subject http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_voltage

assuming you're measuring the open-circuit voltage (ie, with the switch off), 60V is not at all out of the ordinary.

Actually now that I think of it, if you're measuring the voltage using a "ground" that isn't actually grounded, that would be another explanation.