With the Nov. 5 election in a few days, towns and residents are in the final stages of preparing for the upcoming state and presidential election.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, polls will be open between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at each town’s polling location. The ballot will include races across eight offices. These are clerk of courts, electors for president and vice president, governor’s councilor, register of deeds, state representative, state senator, U.S. representative and U.S. senator.
Additionally, the ballot will include five questions for residents to choose whether to support.
Question 1 would allow the state auditor to audit the Legislature.
Question 2 would remove the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test requirement for students to be awarded a high school diploma but continue to require students meet specific state standards for graduation,
Question 3 would enable transportation network drivers to form unions.
Question 4 would permit people age 21 and older to use, grow and possess specific natural psychedelic substances in stated circumstances as well as to create a commission for regulation of these substances.
Question 5 would increase tipped workers’ minimum wage to the state minimum wage over five years and to divide available tips to all non-management tipped and non-tipped workers.
Information on the impact of “yes” and “no” votes on the ballot questions as well as arguments supporting both sides are available online at sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/download/research-and-statistics/IFV_2024.pdf.
In anticipation of Election Day, Reminder Publishing reached out to the town clerks of East Longmeadow, Hampden, Longmeadow and Wilbraham about any information that residents should know before voting on election day.
East Longmeadow
Approximately 13,348 East Longmeadow residents will have the opportunity to vote in the state and presidential election at Birchland Park Middle School on Nov. 5, Town Clerk Jeanne Quaglietti stated.
She highlighted that the Town Clerk’s office had already received 4,135 early ballots as of Oct. 28, an equivalent of a 30% voter turnout still a week before the election. This breaks down to 1,434 early voters and 2,701 mail-in ballots.
For residents who did not receive an informational booklet from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, linked above, there are copies available in the Town Clerk’s office, Quaglietti noted.
In-person absentee voting will continue until 12 p.m. on Nov. 4. Mail-in ballots will be accepted until 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 if postmarked Nov. 5 for residents in the country. Residents overseas can submit a mail-in ballot until 5 p.m. on Nov. 15. The election must be certified by Nov. 20, Quaglietti said.
Hampden
For Hampden, Town Clerk Eva Wiseman recommended that residents decide how they will vote prior to arriving at the Hampden Town House auditorium to vote on Nov. 5. This includes knowing the candidates as well as the ballot questions. She highlighted the secretary of the commonwealth’s guide to the ballot questions, linked above, as a tool for preparing for the election.
Wiseman also noted that residents do not need to vote in every race or question on the ballot.
Longmeadow
In Longmeadow, residents can vote on Nov. 5 at the Longmeadow Community House. Filming and photography are not allowed at the polling location, Town Clerk Timothy Donnelly stated.
He suggested that residents review their voter registration and their voting selections before visiting the polling location.
If residents have already submitted a mail-in ballot, they can track its location by utilizing the secretary of the commonwealth’s online tool at sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/TrackMyBallot.
Wilbraham
Town Clerk Debbie Brennan encouraged Wilbraham residents to have patience if voting on election day, noting that there will likely be lines of people waiting to vote at Minnechaug Regional High School. This is due to the required steps that the election workers must complete in order to check in each voter. She recommended that residents decide their voting selections prior to checking in at the polling location in order to further reduce the wait times.
Additionally, Brennan highlighted that the ballot is double-sided and asked that residents utilizing mail-in ballots submit them “as soon as possible.”
