Published in the February 26, 2016 edition

By DAN TOMASELLO

MELROSE —Voters will be heading to the polls and casting ballots in the Massachusetts Presidential Primary on Tuesday, March 1.

The polls will be open for 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters who live in Ward 1, Precinct 1 will vote at the Roosevelt School. Voters who live in Ward 1, Precinct 2, will vote at the Steele House, 1 Nason Drive.

Voters who live in both Ward 2 precincts will vote at the Horace Mann School. Voters who live both Ward 3 precincts will vote at the Beebe School. Voters who live in Ward 4, Precinct 1 will vote at City Hall. Voters who live in Ward 4, Precinct 2 will vote at the Winthrop School.

Residents who live in both Ward 5 precincts will vote at the Lincoln School. Voters who live in Ward 6, Precinct 1 will vote at City Hall. Voters who live in Ward 6, Precinct 2 will vote at the Winthrop School.

Voters who live in both Ward 7 Precincts will vote at the Hoover School.

There are 19,272 registered voters in the city as of the Feb. 10 voter registration deadline. Unenrolled voters, the legal designation for so-called “independent” voters in Massachusetts, are eligible to vote in the respective Democratic, Republican, Green–Rainbow and United Independent Party primaries.

“We are expecting a high turnout,” said City Clerk Mary Rita O’Shea.

Massachusetts will be one of 13 states holding either a primary or a caucus on March 1, commonly referred to as “Super Tuesday.” In addition to Massachusetts, the other states that will be holding primaries or caucuses are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado (caucuses), Georgia, Minnesota (caucuses), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming (caucuses).

Three candidates will be appearing on the Democratic ballot. Two of those names need no introduction at this point: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The third is Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, a San Diego businessman who announced his candidacy last October and got his name on the ballot here and elsewhere. De La Fuente received 95 votes in the New Hampshire primary.

In addition to Sanders, Clinton and De La Fuente, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will also be appearing on the Democratic ballot even though he left the race a few weeks ago.

There are 13 names on the Republican ballot, but the number of GOP candidates campaigning in the race for president has been whittled down to five following the results of the Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire Presidential Primary, South Carolina Presidential Primary and Nevada Caucuses. The five remaining GOP candidates in the race are businessman Donald Trump, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Although still on the ballot, the following candidates have suspended or outright ended their campaigns: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, former New York Governor George Pataki, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

There are five candidates who will be appearing on the Green-Rainbow Party ballot. These candidates are Sedinam Curry, Jill Stein, William P. Kreml, Kent Mesplay and Darryl Cherney.

Massachusetts has the United Independent Party as well, but there are no candidates for president or any other officer or ward committee on the ballot. Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin recently warned thousands of Massachusetts voters enrolled in the UIP that they are not really unenrolled voters and therefore won’t be able to vote in the Democratic, Republican or Green-Rainbow Party primaries.

The United Independent Party earned official status as a party in Massachusetts in 2014 when Evan Falchuk, who was running for governor, won 3.3 percent of the vote.

Concerned about confusion on election day, Galvin mailed a notice to all Massachusetts voters registered in the UIP that they are registered in a minor party not to be confused with being an independent voter and that Feb. 10, was the final day for voters to register to vote in the upcoming state primary or to change their party status.

Additional races

In addition to the presidential candidates, the Democratic and Republican ballots will include candidates for state committeeman and state committeewoman for the Fifth Middlesex District.

There are contested state committeeman and state committeewoman races on the Republican ballot. Republican City Committee Chairman Robert Aufiero is running against Malden City Councilor at-Large member David D’Arcangelo.

In the Republican State Committeewoman race, Republican City Committee Vice Chairwoman Alice Shattuck is facing off against Stoneham resident Caroline Colarusso.

Former Reading Selectman Ben Tafoya is running unopposed for Democratic State Committeeman. Malden resident Kathleen Manning Hall is running unopposed for Democratic State Committeewoman.

In addition to the committeeman and committeewoman races, there are also races for Ward Committee on the Democratic and Republican ballots.

There are no Ward 1 Democratic Ward Committee candidates.

The Ward 2 Democratic Ward Committee candidates are Steven Goecke, John Lemmerman, Ward 2 Alderman Jennifer Lemmerman and Mayor Rob Dolan.

The Ward 3 Democratic Ward Committee candidates are Bonnie Cronin, Lisa Loveland, George Proakis, Lizbeth DeSelm, Yael Moriya Mazora-Garfinkle and James Bennett.

The Ward 4 Democratic Ward Committee Group 1 candidates are Robert Boisselle, Gail Blanchard, Robert Burns and James Shaer. The Ward 4 Democratic Ward Committee Non Group candidates are Kristi Skinner Bach and Marcia Sullivan.

There are three Ward 5 Democratic Ward Committee candidates: Ward 5 Alderman Gail Infurna, Alderman at-Large Michael Zwirko and Alison Socha.

There are no Ward 6 Democratic Ward Committee candidates.

The Ward 7 Democratic Ward Committee candidates are Mario Portillo, Nicholas Surette, Colette McGonagle and Kevin McGonagle.

The Ward 1 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Theodore Hunt Jr., Edward Batchelder and Maureen Grant.

The Ward 2 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Alderman at-Large Monica Medeiros, Kevin McNeely, Patricia DeVito, Nicholas DeVito and James Atkinson.

The Ward 3 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Robert Graf, M. Julie DeLillo, Jessica Cain and Jerome Paul Jussaume.

The Ward 4 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Jason Kraunelis, Scott Conway, Paul O’Neill, Peter Gianino and Frank Mead.

The Ward 5 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Anthony Doyle, George Hickey, Peter Gianino and John Cronin.

The Ward 6 Republican Ward Committee candidates are Patrick Mattuchio, Alice Shattuck, Robert Aufiero, Paul Guzzo and Todd Weaver.

The Ward 7 Republican Ward Committee candidates are James Curran, Francis Goodhue and Andrejs Ravins.