A look outside of Longmeadow Town Hall on election day on June 2.
Reminder Publishing file photo
LONGMEADOW — Residents will take to the polls for the state primary and election in just a short time and the Longmeadow Select Board has set the in-person early voting dates for both, with Chair Dan Zwirko citing the right to vote as “the most sacred thing we should be advocating for.”
The Select Board discussed the dates and confirmed when residents can start voting at its meeting on July 20.
The primary election day is on Sept. 1 and the state election is Nov. 3. Each early voting day will occur at Town Hall, 231 Maple Road.
Voters will have six days to vote early in-person for the primary, beginning on Aug. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Voting continues from Aug. 24-27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and closes on Aug. 28 from 9 a.m. to noon.
In-person early voting for the state election begins on Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., continuing on Oct. 19-22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early voting election dates also include Oct. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Oct. 26-29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Oct. 30 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Town Clerk Timothy Donnelly wrote in a July 9 letter to the Select Board that the schedule maximizes voting accessibility to residents.
Donnelly also included in the letter that advance processing will manage the anticipated number of ballots from both in-person early voting and mail-in ballots. The process allows the town to process ballots received before election day, “ensuring a more efficient and uninterrupted process on election day itself,” according to Donnelly.
Primary advance processing is on Aug. 29 and election processing is on Oct. 31, both from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and open to the public.
Select Board member Andrew Lam said he noticed there were over two full weeks of early voting and asked Town Manager Lyn Simmons for data on state requirements, incurred costs and if she thought it was cost effective based on prior voting to have that amount of voting.
Lam said he thought state requirements allowed limits in the first week of voting and didn’t call for all seven days, which he said he would be in favor of.
He said “I think this is probably more than adequate early, in-person voting for an election that’s kind of a, not a presidential election but an in-between election.”
Simmons said the town is required to have one full week of early voting before both the September primary and the November election.
“The November one is when we can reduce the hours,” Simmons said. “They don’t have to be full days. It could be a partial day, so that was ultimately what the town clerk ended up coming back and recommending, that if there was interest instead of the full day hours of 8:15 [a.m.] to 4:30 [p.m.], it could be 9 [a.m.] to 1 [p.m.], in that first week of early voting leading up to the November election.
Simmons added that the daily vote count isn’t overwhelming, but it’s still too much to have the office staff take it on without additional office support.
“We try to have the least amount of workers as possible while also still giving the best service as possible,” Simmons said. “That requires them to have two extra people here. It’s about $200 a day to do that.”
Zwirko said $200 is worth it for the right to vote and making voting easier for residents.
“I just feel like this is something that I personally, I feel really strongly about making sure our open and free elections should be easily accessible for everybody,” Zwirko said. “If one person misses it because of a time change, that’s just too many people to miss out on voting, especially when we’ve worked so hard through history to get to the point where everyone has their say and can vote freely in open elections. So, over $200, I’m personally deciding on keeping these elections as accessible as possible.”
More information on voting in Longmeadow can be found at longmeadowma.gov/1571/Voting-Information.
