Tuesday is election day for cities throughout the commonwealth, and the secretary of state has some phrases of warning and recommendation for voters.
Secretary of State Bill Galvin held a press convention on the Massachusetts State Library on Monday to warn voters towards mailing ballots again, since native elections have completely different guidelines than statewide contents.
“I am greatly concerned however, that there is some misunderstanding about the return of vote by mail ballots. In the case of municipal elections, the way the statute was passed, there is no grace period, so ballots must be received not later than the close of polls tomorrow,” Galvin mentioned.
Along with numerous different provisions, the VOTES Act, signed into legislation by former Gov. Charlie Baker, permits all voters in Massachusetts to vote by mail with no excuse required. However a lot of voters who elected to obtain a mail poll, Galvin mentioned, are nonetheless holding onto them, regardless of there being completely different guidelines.
“At this present moment, literally tens of thousands of ballots are as yet unreceived, that is to say they are apparently still in the custody of the voter,” Galvin mentioned.
Town drop packing containers and city elections places of work will settle for mail-in ballots on election day, Galvin mentioned, and voters who can not bodily ship their ballots are allowed to have them handed in by a member of the family. Ballots not acquired by the point polls shut can’t be counted, Galvin mentioned.
“It’s very important that these ballots are counted. These people took the time to participate. I want to make sure their ballots are counted,” Galvin mentioned.
According to the Secretary of State, the timing of municipal elections is as much as particular person cities. Most run their elections from 7 a.m. to eight p.m., however Agawam, Chicopee, Franklin, Methuen, North Adams, Pittsfield, and Westfield have barely completely different polling hours.
Galvin mentioned he expects much less turnout than in 2021 — particularly in Boston, the place there’s not a mayoral contest this cycle — however burdened the significance of those native elections. Less than half of voters will take part, Galvin mentioned, regardless of the direct affect the elections can have on their day by day lives.
“The way our government is structured in Massachusetts, local government has a great deal of authority in a number of areas: education, taxes, development, housing, planning, zoning. And these decisions are really reflected by decisions made by voters in the municipal elections,” Galvin mentioned.
Galvin mentioned he expects turnout to hover between 30% and 50%. Some municipalities, like cities and cities within the Worcester and Hampden state senate district, the place there’s a particular election, have proven particularly robust vote by mail participation, Galvin mentioned.
Galvin mentioned he’s not happy with these turnout numbers — he’d prefer to see everybody vote, he mentioned — however he’s blissful to see there are some native races garnering important consideration.
“These races are significant,” he mentioned. “This is where our communities, historically, have made their decisions.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”