Local clerks and election officials are anticipating the turnout for this year’s state primary will be higher than usual, but the additional volume won’t be seen at the polls on Tuesday.
In Swampscott, mail-in, or early ballot requests make up more than 28 percent of the town’s registered voters, which is about 10,600 people.
“We’ve had over 3,000 early ballot requests,” said Swampscott Town Clerk Susan Duplin. “I believe the polls will be quiet, not as busy as usual because at least half of the voters have already voted.”
Thanks to a new voting law enacted because of the pandemic, and signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker last month, all registered voters in Massachusetts can now vote by mail in the 2020 state primary and the November general election.
In addition, Swampscott voters have had a chance to cast their ballots in-person at Town Hall since last Saturday through early voting, which wrapped up on Friday. Duplin said the town averaged about 50 voters a day during that early voting period.
“Everybody loves it,” said Duplin.
In Lynn, City Clerk and Elections Chief Janet Rowe told The Item earlier this month that voter turnout is already expected to exceed the numbers seen in the 2016 state primary, which was the last presidential election year.
Rowe also pointed to the vast number of mail-in ballot requests in Lynn as the reason for the higher turnout. As of Aug. 14, the state had already received 6,700 mail-in requests from Lynn residents. If all of those people vote by mail, voter turnout would be at least 12 percent. There are approximately 54,300 registered voters in Lynn.
Rowe said the higher voter numbers seen so far could be due to Tuesday’s Demcratic primary featuring a contentious U.S. Senate race between incumbent Edward J. Markey and challenger Joseph P. Kennedy III.
Although Rowe, Duplin and other local clerks are anticipating a quiet night at the polls, that has not stopped them from implementing an array of safety measures to protect voters and poll workers.
“Our Public Health Director, Michele Desmarais, has been with us every step of the way, guiding us and advising us,” Rowe said. “We have all kinds of guidelines from the state. They’ve mailed us PPE (personal protective equipment) for all of our poll workers. We’re going to have plexiglass.”
The city will also bring in cleaning companies to help sanitize each polling location, and workers will be standing by to wipe down surfaces, including public restrooms, every three hours. Rowe added that voters are welcome to bring their own black pens.
“I think it’s going to be very safe for people,” she said. “And people already know we have to stay six feet apart and wear a mask. “It’s going to be very safe if you follow all the rules and guidelines while voting.”
On Tuesday, Swampscott will operate its state primary election much like the town election that was held on June 30, in terms of safety measures.
Duplin said there will be safety shields in place and social distancing will be practiced at the polls. Floors will be marked six feet apart, there will be hand sanitizer at each polling station and voters will be encouraged to wear their own masks and bring their own blue or black pens.
Unlike the town election, the Swampscott High School cafeteria and foyer will not operate as a polling place.
Duplin said the town will go back to its usual three polling locations: Precincts 1 and 2 will vote at the Swampscott Senior Center, 200 R Essex St.; Precincts 3 and 4 will vote at the First Church Congregational, 40 Monument Ave.; and Precincts 5 and 6 will vote at Swampscott Middle School, 207 Forest Ave.
“We just want to get through the primary and then we’ll move onto November,” said Duplin, who anticipates voter turnout will exceed the 25 to 30 percent seen in past primaries. “It’s been crazy keeping up with all of the early ballot requests.”
The Saugus Town Clerk’s office has respectfully asked its roughly 19,000 voters turning out to polling stations this week to wear a mask and socially distance themselves from others.
In Saugus specifically, however, residents should take note that four out of 10 voting precincts — 1, 3, 4, and 8 — have been moved to the new middle-high school on Pierce Memorial Drive.
Town Clerk Ellen Schena told The Item in May that the change was due to a number of reasons.
Two precincts — 4 and 8 — were originally located in the now-closed Belmonte Middle School, while precinct 1, initially at the American Legion on Taylor Street, was found to be too small following a state audit.
Precinct 3 was formerly located in the Chestnut Woods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which was one of the Saugus nursing homes hardest-hit by the pandemic in March.
“Due to the current situation (regarding the coronavirus pandemic), I don’t feel comfortable having people going into a nursing home for September and November’s elections,” Schena had said. “I definitely do not want to put anyone in that situation, and I don’t think any of the voters would want to go in there either.”
In Lynnfield, Town Clerk Linda Emerson said that, based on how smoothly early voting went at Town Hall, she expects in-person voting Tuesday at the high school will be seamless.
“We learned we had all of the safety measures we needed to keep people safe and feeling comfortable coming into Town Hall,” she said. “We have plenty of PPE and are constantly cleaning. People can bring their own pens, and generally we are providing all the things we need to do to conduct in-person voting for those people who want it.”
Emerson will be looking to keep the town’s momentum going at the polls, noting that so far, voting has been a “smashing success.”
“It’s generating a tremendous amount of work, but the mail-in voting has been an amazing process with no issues whatsoever that I can think of,” said Emerson. “In my opinion, it won’t be long before all voting will be conducted by mail — it’s been such a success.”
Emerson said as of Thursday, 1,493 ballots have been returned — 1,206 by mail, 187 in person during early voting and 100 absentee. A total of 2,541 ballots were mailed to residents.
“Usually a primary like this is very, very low, normally,” Emerson said. “But we have been so busy that we’ve had to get help from poll workers, who have done a great job helping us stay on top of things.”
In Peabody, City Clerk Allyson Danforth said her office has been “crazy, crazy busy” and she expects to be even busier throughout the weekend leading into Tuesday’s primary.
“I think we are going to get slammed this weekend and I think we get a whole flood of ballots in Monday’s mail,” she said. “We have had no complaints or issues and think we came up with a great plan going forward. The staff has been great and we have had to pull people from wherever we could to keep up with it, but overall, people just love having mail-in options.
“Tuesday will probably be lighter than in past years because so many people have gotten their ballots in.”
Danforth said that a total of 9,726 ballots were mailed and that the total number of accepted ballots is 6,436 of which 1,030 were early in-person votes cast at the Higgins Middle School.
“That’s just an amazing number for a primary election,” Danforth said.
Advanced depositing, a system in which returned mail-in ballots are processed through the voting machines prior to election day, has been a huge part of the city’s ability to keep pace.”
Like her fellow clerks, Danforth said the city is taking all precautions to ensure that election day is a pleasant experience.
“Some of the things we did, like advanced depositing and mail-in ballots and early voting should help make things smoother and easier for everyone on Tuesday,” she said. We have plenty of PPE, some from the state, and cleaning supplies to make it safe for everyone.”
The only downside to Danforth anticipates for this year’s election process is the additional expense.
“It’s been a lot of work for a short amount of time, so it definitely is more costly than before,” she said. “When you factor in that there will be 14 straight days of early voting in October, the expenses are astronomical when you add in all the COVID precautions and extra help needed with things like signage and getting the word out.”
In addition to the Markey/Kennedy race, the Democratic primary also features a contested race for the 6th District Congressional seat. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, of Salem, faces a challenge from Jamie M. Belsito and Angus G. McQuilken, both of Topsfield.