Saturday Is the Deadline to Register in Boston; City Starts Opening Early Ballots Monday, With Two Different Official Schedules
Boston will begin removing early and mail ballots from their envelopes and running them through a tabulator at City Hall on Oct. 26. An emergency notice posted Thursday lists different hours than the Election Department's earlier announcement.
Saturday, Oct. 24, is the last day to register to vote in Boston for the Nov. 3 state election, and on Monday the city will begin opening early and mail-in ballots and feeding them into a tabulator at City Hall, according to the Boston Election Department.
Residents can register in person at the Election Department, City Hall, Room 241, until 5 p.m. Saturday, online at voteinma.com until 11:59 p.m. Saturday, or by mail with a form postmarked by Oct. 24, according to the department's announcement.
The election will choose the governor, a U.S. senator, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the state Legislature, along with other offices, and will include nine statewide ballot questions, the department said.
In-person early voting began Saturday, Oct. 17, and runs through Friday, Oct. 30. Any registered Boston voter may vote at any early voting site, and no excuse is required, according to the city's early voting page. City Hall is the primary site. It is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Friday, Oct. 30, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Thursday, Oct. 29. The department encourages voters to use the north entrance on Congress Street, across from the Haymarket T station.
This weekend, Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, neighborhood sites are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The city's list includes the Harvard/Kent Elementary School in Charlestown, the James F. Condon School cafeteria in South Boston, the BCYF Perkins Community Center in Dorchester, the BCYF Mildred Avenue Community Center in Mattapan, the BCYF Roche Community Center in West Roxbury, the Boston Public Library's Central Library in Back Bay, the BCYF Shelburne Community Center in Roxbury, the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Dorchester and the Honan-Allston Branch Library. Additional neighborhood sites open from noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Thursday, Oct. 29, the department said.
The deadline to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, the department said, and voters should not put applications in ballot drop boxes because that delays processing. Completed mail ballots must be received by Nov. 3, or by 5 p.m. Nov. 6 if postmarked by Nov. 3. The deadline to apply for an accessible electronic ballot, for voters who cannot independently read, write, hold or mark a paper ballot, is also 5 p.m. Oct. 27.
Ballots cast early are not counted on the day they are cast. Voters check in, receive a paper ballot and envelope, mark the ballot, seal it in the envelope and return it, and the ballot is either counted on Election Day or processed in advance at an authorized facility, according to the department.
That advance processing begins Monday. In its State Election announcement, the department said that on Oct. 26 it would begin processing mail-in and in-person early ballots for all 275 precincts, removing ballots from their envelopes and feeding them into a tabulator in Room 801 of City Hall. That announcement says processing will occur daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3, starting at 7 a.m. on Election Day if necessary. It says ballots advance-processed by 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 will be centrally tabulated, and that other ballots received by 2 p.m. on Election Day will be delivered to their precincts.
A separate "Emergency Notice of Advance Processing and Removal of Early Voted Ballots," posted on the city's public notices page on Thursday, Oct. 22, lists different hours. It says processing will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 and 27 and from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2, and from 8 a.m. until complete on Nov. 3. For Wednesday, Oct. 28, it lists hours of "11:30 pm - 6:30 pm." The notice covers all precincts in Wards 1 through 22 and says the process "will be open for public observation." Its opening paragraph refers to removing "State Primary ballots" from their envelopes, although its title refers to the Nov. 3 State Election. The listed contact is Sabino Piemonte, at 617-635-4054.
The two documents agree on the location, Room 801, and on the start date, and both say ballots not processed in advance will be sent to the precincts. The notice says the department reserves the right to adjust the list of precincts processed at the central tabulation facility. Residents who plan to observe can call the listed number to confirm hours.
Ballots that arrive on Election Day and are not delivered to the polls will be tallied on Saturday, Nov. 7, provided they meet the postmark deadline, according to the department's announcement.
The department is also still recruiting poll workers for Nov. 3. Poll workers receive a stipend of $160 to $200 plus pay for required training, and bilingual applicants are strongly encouraged, the department said. Applications are available at boston.gov/pollworkers or by calling 617-635-0905.
On Election Day, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at each voter's assigned polling location, and ballot drop boxes across the city accept ballots until 8 p.m., according to the city's early voting page.
