More than 700,000 voters in Massachusetts requested mail-in ballots forward of the March 5 presidential primaries and nearly 250,000 have been returned, numbers the state’s prime election official stated had been “encouraging” as the competition shapes as much as be a repeat of 4 years in the past.
A trickle of residents had been already casting their ballots on the BCYF Roche Community Center in West Roxbury Saturday. Secretary of State William Galvin stated early voting in Massachusetts is off to a “slow start” however the primaries in South Carolina might encourage individuals right here to go to the polls.
“Needless to say, since on both parties, the races seem decided at this moment, it’s not as much of an incentive for people to come out. But the intensity of interest in the presidency and the importance of this election, I think, is superseding. So I do think there will be a fair degree of turnout,” he stated.
Early voting in Massachusetts runs by March 1 and registered voters can nonetheless request to vote by mail by Feb. 27, Galvin stated.
Independents can select to tug a Democratic or Republican ticket with out turning into a member of that occasion. Galvin stated Massachusetts has seen an uptick in independents requesting Republican ballots, “which, given the size of the Republican party in our state, is significant.”
“I think that clearly was a pitch that Gov. (Nikki) Haley has been making in her effort to contest Donald Trump,” Galvin stated.
There are roughly 3.7 million energetic registered voters in Massachusetts, Galvin stated. Less than 30% are registered as Democrats and round 10% are registered Republicans, he stated.
Galvin stated he believes younger individuals “don’t want party affiliation.”
“They want to be able to pick and choose amongst the parties and you can see the parties themselves aren’t that exciting to people to be a participant in. I’ve been a lifelong Democrat but I don’t mean that has to be for everybody else,” he stated.
The Massachusetts Republican Party is “very much in change,” Galvin stated.
“The general point is most people are not connected with either party or or any party,” he stated. “It’s not about the parties, it’s about the voters, and it’s about the choices and it’s about the citizenship and the importance of making these decisions.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”