Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and a new voting law enacted by Gov. Charlie Baker in July, Massachusetts voters have more options to cast their votes than ever before, starting Saturday with early voting in the Sept. 1 primary.
In Lynn, early voters have several options, said City Clerk Janet Rowe.
“(People) want to be safe and that’s fine,” Rowe said. “We’re offering three ways to vote. You can either get it by mail, you can come into City Hall the week before, or you can come to your polling place Sept. 1.
Residents can cast votes at City Hall on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Polls will remain open through Aug. 28 during usual City Hall hours.
“We’ve always had early voting for the regular election, but we’ve never had it for a primary before, and we’ve never done weekends,” Rowe said. “The state has really asked us to do Saturday and Sunday because they think a lot of people work and can’t get out, so it’s just another option for them to be able to come in here and vote.”
Rowe said City Hall is also currently experiencing an influx of mail-in voting and that her office has already sent out more than 8,800 vote-by-mail requests as of Friday.
“I think because of the pandemic, a lot of people are afraid,” she said.
The last day to request a mail-in ballot is August 26. Votes can also be mailed back or dropped off inside a City Hall ballot box located next to the building.
“Our Public Health Director, Michele Desmarais, has been with us every step of the way, guiding us and advising us,” said Rowe. “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 shields right on the table. All workers are going to have gloves and masks and hand sanitizer.”
The city plans to bring in cleaning companies to help sanitize each polling location, and workers will be standing by to wipe down surfaces every three hours.
Rowe added that voters are welcome to bring their own black pens.
In Saugus, voting will be held at the library (Taylor Street entrance) on Saturday from 2-8 p.m.; Sunday, Aug. 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 25 through Thursday, Aug. 27 from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 28 from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Early voting and absentee ballots may be returned using the White Treasury Collector drop-off box located in front of Town Hall according to the town’s website.
Swampscott’s polls will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Town Hall; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, 4-8 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, 4-8 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon.
Early or absentee ballot application requests can be dropped in the Swampscott Town Hall 24-hour box, hand-delivered to the Town Clerk’s office Monday, Wednesday or Fridays, or e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed.
The deadline to submit a vote-by-mail ballot request for the Sept. 1 state primary is no later than 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is no later than noon on Monday, Aug. 31.
In-person early voters must wear a mask and supply their own pens. One will be provided to you if you do not have one. Social distancing will be expected and enforced.
In Marblehead, early voting takes place in Abbot Hall auditorium from Saturday through Wednesday; Saturday voting will be held noon to 4 p.m.; Sunday voting, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, 9-11:30 a.m.
Peabody’s early voting will take place at the Higgins Middle School. Polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day from Saturday, Aug. 22 through Friday, Aug. 28.
Early voting hours at the Town Hall in Lynnfield will be noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22; Sunday, Aug. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, Aug. 24 through Thursday, Aug. 27 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday, Aug. 28 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Voters can cast their votes at polling booths inside or they can drop ballots in two specially marked boxes outside the building.
Town Clerk Linda Emerson said her office is prepared with plenty of masks, gloves, sanitizer and Clorox wipes, along with safety shields and social distancing indicators on the floors.
“We are very well prepared for this and we have had quite a few phone calls to date,” she said, adding she has seen a huge spike in absentee ballot requests with requests for absentee ballots increasing from 145 to 2,307 since the mail-in process began.
