Local clerks and election officials are raving about how well early and mail-in voting went for this past Tuesday’s state primary, which they said led to a higher turnout and a safer night at the polls.
In Lynn, more than 60 percent of residents who voted in this week’s primary had already voted before polls opened on Tuesday morning.
Thanks to a new voting law enacted because of the pandemic, and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in July, all registered voters in Massachusetts could vote by mail in the 2020 state primary, an option that will extend to the November general election.
Of the 14,130 ballots cast in Lynn, 8,552 of those people had voted early, which included 706 residents who took advantage of in-person early voting at City Hall and 7,846 who voted by mail, according to the city’s election office.
“I think it went well,” said Karen Richard, administrative assistant in the election office. “People seemed to like it. A lot of people used the dropbox. It was a greater turnout than a state primary in a long time with the vote by mail.”
This year’s voter turnout of 25.94 percent, which was based on 54,474 registered voters, far exceeded the 12 percent turnout that was seen in the 2016 state primary, which was the last presidential election year.
Having so many people who chose to vote early also made for a safer night at the polls, Richard said, explaining that many people are still afraid to go out to vote in person.
But it was still a challenging night for both the voters and poll workers, said City Clerk and Election Chief Janet Rowe, who credited the poll workers for showing up to work during a pandemic, following the safety guidelines, and processing thousands of mail-ballots “without a hitch.”
Now, Rowe said it’s “full steam ahead” for November, an election that will be preceded by two weeks of early voting.
“The last presidential election four years ago brought out 65 percent of the voters, so we will be very busy not only with preparation but complying with COVID-19 precautions,” said Rowe. “This is the most challenging election in Lynn history.”
In Lynnfield, Town Clerk Linda Emerson said the entire mail-in process was a “smashing” success.
“It’s been an amazing, amazing process with no issues whatsoever that I can think of,” said Emerson. “Other than having to explain to unenrolled people they need to pick a party, there were no problems at all.”
Emerson said early voting and voting by mail made for a smoother election day at the polls. In-person voting on Tuesday was steady, but volume increased during the lunch hour, she said.
“In my opinion, it won’t be long before all voting will be conducted by mail, it’s been such a success,” said Emerson.
As of Friday, 1,645 ballots had been returned either by mail, in-person during early voting and absentee. A total of 2,695 ballots were mailed to residents. 2,346 people in all returned Democratic ballots, while only 896 returned Republican ballots, according to Emerson.
“The turnout was much more than I expected and mostly due to all the mail-in ballots that came back,” said Emerson. “It’s been phenomenal. I think a lot of it has to do with the new attention on how important it is to get out and vote. I definitely also think that having a mail-in option and the early voting is a big factor in having such a large turnout overall.”
In Peabody, voter turnout was high — the 35 percent turnout was more than double what was seen in 2018, when only 17.6 percent voted and nearly triple the 2016 turnout of 12.3 percent.
City Clerk Allyson Danforth said the turnout on Tuesday was great and “voters seemed to be happy, so we are very happy with the way the whole election went.”
“Mail-in voting is obviously the difference,” she said. “We are still trying to figure out how to report the percentage of people who got their mail-in ballots and actually returned them. It would be nice to know exactly how many we sent out. The Secretary of State hasn’t given us guidance yet.”
The total number of ballots cast was 9,248, which includes Sept. 1 in-person votes, early votes and any mail-in ballots received prior to 8 p.m. when the polls closed.
“We had just under 35 percent total turnout, so it was definitely easier for people to vote, but tougher on poll workers as it was a new process,” Danforth said.
Danforth said while early voting and mail-in voting was problem-free in Peabody, she nonetheless sees a flaw in the system. The legislation that was passed to allow mail-in voting mandated that mail-in votes be accepted until the polls closed at 8 p.m., she said, which could allow people to vote twice.
“The voting lists are based on the data from the night before, but meanwhile, people are still dropping off their mail-in ballots at City Hall on election day,” she said.
“That opens the door for a person to then go to the polling locations and vote as there is no “X” next to their names indicating they had already voted. We are not in real time so that creates the ability to vote twice.”
But Danforth is grateful those challenges became apparent in the primary, when there’s still a chance to work things out by the November election.
“The primary was really a dress rehearsal and we were thankful to have the opportunity to see how mail-in and early voting actually works so we can iron out the kinks,” she said
In Revere, Election Commissioner Diane R. Colella said 6,230 people voted early for this year’s state primary, which is nearly 70 percent of the total number of ballots cast.
A total of 8,951 people voted, which resulted in a voter turnout of 30.64 percent.
Colella said early voting “was amazing” this election round, which included options for in-person early voting, and mail-in and absentee ballots.
“A lot of people responded,” said Colella. “They loved our dropbox. We had 5,839 people vote by mail and who voted early.”
The remaining 391 voted absentee, she said.
“I think it was the pandemic and people are afraid to go to the polls,” said Colella. “It’s convenient.”
Overall, Colella said in-person voting on election day itself went well this past Tuesday, but there is room for improvement in November.
“It worked well but we just need to tweak it a little bit,” said Colella. “The setup needs to be improved upon and we will do that in November.”
Saugus Town Clerk Ellen Schena said roughly 3,130 residents voted early this year, although that number does not include absentee ballots because that information for Saugus was not immediately available.
“This was a heavier election (when it comes to) percentage,” Schena said. “Usually it’s 20 percent (turnout) or below for state primaries in Saugus. I think EV (early voting) affected it, with the mail-in making it easier, so more people voted.”
Schena added that this year’s voter turnout rate for the state primary was around 33 percent. She also credited the town’s election workers, including 12 students, for helping the entire voting process run smoothly.
“I heard from voters what a pleasure it was to see the students getting involved in elections for the community,” she said. “One voter actually stopped me when I was coming out of the high school and said how pleasant (all the workers) were.
“Having more students working the polls was a great experience.”
Swampscott Town Clerk Susan Duplin also said early voting opportunities seemed to result in a higher percentage of voter turnout than previous elections.
Similar to Saugus, Duplin said 2,282 residents took advantage of early voting measures, choosing either to request an absentee ballot ahead of time or cast their vote in person.
“The polls were not as busy because of how many (people) voted early,” Duplin said.
Although fewer people showed up the day of the election, overall turnout was much higher than in other years.
“I looked at the numbers from four years ago,” Duplin said. “Eleven percent voted in the state election (four years ago) … as opposed to 42 percent of eligible voters who voted this year. Even the early voting in Town Hall, it was averaging about 50 voters a day, and everybody loved it.”