Nearly half of Massachusetts’ registered voters have already cast their ballots.
More than 2.3 million Massachusetts residents cast their ballots during early voting according to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office. According to the Secretary’s office 2,562,718 voters applied to vote by mail or during early voting and had already received 2,342,945 ballots ahead of the opening of the polls on Tuesday, November 3. Nearly half of the state’ss 4.8 million registered voters have already voted.
Secretary Galvin said the very high turnout predicted for Election Day, especially in urban areas, could lead Massachusetts’ total turnout to smash records at 3.6 million. In 2016, the total voter turnout for Massachusetts was 3.3 million.
“The areas of the state that most participated in vote by mail or early voting were suburban areas. That means significant numbers of urban areas, many of our largest cities, and many of our fairly middle-sized cities have not really participated in the same percentage. In fact, in many of those places, less than a quarter of eligible voters have taken advantage of early voting or vote-by-mail. That means they’ll be coming out tomorrow,” said Galvin during a press conference.
For those heading to the polls during Election Day, Galvin said state and local officials had implemented measures to make sure the voting process was entirely safe, including providing as much space as possible at polling stations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In Boston, Mayor Marty Walsh assured city officials were prepared to confront any possible disturbances and efforts to intimidate Boston voters. “We are committed to making sure that voting is safe and accessible,” Walsh said. “It’s the cornerstone of our democracy and the right to self-determination that we believe in. So we are doing whatever it takes to protect your rights and our safe access to ballot boxes here in the City of Boston.”
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