Boston's Early Voting Ends Friday; Ballots Processed by 5 p.m. That Day Will Be Counted Centrally
City Hall is open to early voters until 8 p.m. Thursday, and neighborhood sites are open noon to 8. The Election Department's schedule also spells out how and when mail ballots are counted, and which ones wait until Nov. 7.
Boston voters have two days left to vote early in the Nov. 3 state election. According to the city Election Department, in-person early voting, which began Saturday, Oct. 17, ends Friday, Oct. 30.
Boston City Hall is the primary early voting site. It is open Thursday, Oct. 29, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The department advises voters to use the north entrance on Congress Street, across from the Haymarket T station. The neighborhood early voting sites are open Thursday from noon to 8 p.m.; Thursday is their last scheduled day. Registered Boston voters may vote at any early voting location, and all sites are accessible to voters with disabilities, the department says.
The ballot is long. The election will choose the governor, a U.S. senator, members of the U.S. House and the state Legislature and other offices, and includes nine statewide ballot questions. The voter registration deadline was Oct. 24, and the deadlines to apply for a mail ballot and an accessible electronic ballot passed Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The department's published schedule also explains how early and mail ballots are counted, which matters for how quickly results are reported on election night. Starting Monday, Oct. 26, election workers began removing early and mail ballots from their envelopes and feeding them into a tabulator in Room 801 of City Hall, daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Only ballots received before Friday are handled this way. Ballots processed by 5 p.m. Friday will be tabulated centrally.
Ballots that arrive after that are handled differently. Those received by 2 p.m. on Election Day go to voters' precincts to be processed there. Mail ballots must be received by the Election Department by Nov. 3, or by 5 p.m. Nov. 6 if postmarked by Nov. 3. Ballots that arrive on Election Day and are not delivered to the polls will be tallied Saturday, Nov. 7, provided they meet the deadlines, the department says.
Because of the late-arriving ballots, some close races may not be final on election night. The department recommends that voters still holding mail ballots return them to one of the city's ballot drop boxes, which are emptied daily, rather than mailing them this close to the election. Voters can track a mail ballot at trackmyballotma.com.
Poll workers are still being recruited. The department pays a stipend of $160 to $200 plus pay for required training and encourages bilingual applicants. Residents can apply at boston.gov/pollworkers, by email at [email protected] or by calling 617-635-0905.
The election also comes with federal attention. WBUR reported Tuesday that the U.S. Justice Department will send election monitors to Boston and Lowell on Election Day. The city's announcement does not mention the monitors.
Early voting sites check voters in on electronic poll books. The ballot itself is paper: a voter marks it, seals it in an envelope and returns it, and it is counted on Election Day or processed in advance at an authorized site, according to the department.
How many Boston voters have cast early ballots so far has not been published by the city; the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office posts statewide turnout data.
