Massachusetts Voters Can Vote Early; Registration Deadline Wednesday

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You won't have to wait until Nov. 8 to cast a ballot for president.

More than 1.2 million votes have already been cast in this election season across the country. Now, for the first time, Massachusetts voters will also be able to avoid the lines and vote early.

"We don't know what to expect," said City Clerk Marilyn Gomeau. "We're prepared as much as we can be."

Gov. Deval Patrick signed the 2014 law that expanded voting times to between 11 and two business days prior to Election Day, always the first Tuesday in November.

This year, towns and cities across Massachusetts are preparing for early voting to begin on Monday, Oct. 24. The last day is Friday, Nov. 4.

In North Adams, Gomeau has set up a couple voting booths in her office, the same ones that can be used for absentee voting that began last week. If it gets busy, she's got a back up plan to set up more.

Early voting is similar to absentee voting, except now voters don't need an excuse for not being able to vote on Election Day. Not that they really needed one.

"It is illegal to absentee vote if you weren't out of town but it is illegal for us to ask a reason," shrugged Gomeau.

However, the city clerk cautioned that there's one big difference between early voting and absentee voting: an early vote ballot can't be dismissed.
 
"Once you vote early, you can't change your mind," she said, unlike absentee in which you can show up at the polls and ask for your ballot to be voided and then vote in the usual way.

The last election had about 500 absentee votes and more than 150 had already cast ballots by absentee in North Adams the first week they were able. Many of those are residents preparing to head to points south for the winter before Election Day.

Both early and absentee ballots are available to be mailed but there must be a written request and time for the ballot to be mailed and returned. Early voting ends Nov. 4; absentee votes are accepted

But Gomeau said she and her staff have been holding registration drives at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and that there's been a bump in new voter registration.

Gomeau's preparing for a lot voter and is adding on staff.

Pittsfield City Clerk Jodi Phillips is also unsure about turnout — or how many might take advantage of early voting. But she, too, is preparing for a deluge of voters.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we got 70 percent. We were 68 percent in 2012," Phillips said. "I hope people take advantage of the early voting. I'm hoping the Saturday session will encourage more people to come out, too."

She added that, "We've already had over 500 absentee ballots so far."

"Usually during the presidential election there's a large number of absentee any way."

Just in case, she's going to have extra ballots on hand.

But there is potential for a delay in voting results. The early ballots have to be run through the machines or counted by hand on the day of the election, just like absentee ballots. A heavy turnout could back up efforts to do that, forcing poll workers to wait until after voting closes.

Phillips was confident that Pittsfield could handle it; Gomeau, with fewer poll workers, thought it could take longer. "The machines will not close until every ballot goes through," she said.

Voters can go to their town or city clerk's office to vote during regular business hours. North Adams will also be open on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 9 to 1.

Some $1.2 million for early voting was vetoed by the governor but restored through legislative overrides. Two hundred and eighty-four communities are getting about $400,000 of that in small grants to help only with the Saturday voting — the two Berkshire cities got $500, the smaller towns $250 — and clerks are concerned that early voting will be another unfunded mandate.  

The last day to register to vote is Wednesday, Oct. 19, and most town and city clerk offices will be open until 8 p.m.

The 2014 election reform also allows for online registration and an online tool through Secretary of State William Galvin's office to check if you are registered to vote and where.

Gomeau encourages voters to attend to their voting status as soon as possible. An inactive voter, for example, may still be able to vote but not until going through a process to affirm his or her status.

"That's going to slow everything down," she said. "It's very time-consuming. ... It's easy to go directly to the site or call us and we can correct it very easily."

Spectrum Cable Hearing Set in North Adams