By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – When it comes to running elections, the key is organization. That’s never been a problem for Town Clerk Betsy Sheeran and her staff. Their preparation for the upcoming State Primary Election, with new voting rules in place, is a prime example of an organized operation.
On June 22, 2022, the Massachusetts VOTES Act was signed into law. The VOTES Act makes permanent several of the temporary changes enacted during the pandemic. The new law also makes the absentee voting process and early voting by mail processes consistent.
The voter registration deadline for all elections and town meetings has been reduced from 20 days to 10 calendar days before the date of the election or town meeting. Early voting by mail is now available for all elections.
Sheeran said that to date her office has processed about 2,500 applications for mail-in ballots for the State Primary Election and they continue to send out ballots on a daily basis as requests come in. The Town Clerk’s Office has already received several hundred completed State Primary ballots.
The VOTES Act also requires in-person early voting to be offered for all state primaries and elections. In-person early voting must also be held for any municipal elections being held on the same day as one of the above listed elections. For local elections, cities and towns may choose to have in-person early voting.
For the upcoming State Primary Election, the Town Clerk’s Office will offer in-person early voting at Town Hall beginning on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In-person early voting at Town Hall will continue through following week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, ending on Friday, Sept. 2.
Sheeran stressed that mail-in ballots and in-person early voting ballots will not be opened until Election Day on Sept. 6.
With three different ways to vote, including seven days of in-person early voting, voting by mail and traditional in-person voting on Election Day, Sheeran says that she is not expecting huge crowds of voters at the Galvin Middle School polling place on the day of the Sept. 6 Primary Election.
There have been news reports that some city and town clerks’ offices are feeling overwhelmed and understaffed as they adjust to the new voting procedures. That has not been the case in Wakefield, Sheeran said.
She did admit that a glitch in the delivery of ballots set her office back by a few days, and she got two extra workers for one day to help separate and mark the boxes of ballots. But other than that, Sheeran said, she and her staff have been able to handle the entire process on their own.
Sheeran has also gone beyond what is required under the new voting law. She sent out notices to over 6,800 Wakefield voters who have missed two consecutive state elections and could have been removed from the voting rolls as inactive voters. She said that she’s gotten responses from about 75 percent of those voters.
Sheeran also sent out over 200 letters to unenrolled voters who returned their request for mail-in primary ballots without indicating which party’s ballot they wished to receive. (Registered Democrats and Republicans automatically receive their party’s ballots, but unenrolled voters get to choose which ballot they want.)
In preparation for traditional, in-person voting on the day of the Sept. 6 Primary Election, Sheeran said that she has coordinated with school custodians to set up the voting booths in the Galvin Middle School gymnasium on the Friday before the election so that they won’t have to work on Labor Day weekend.
Overall, Sheeran says that the process for the Sept. 6 Primary Election has gone very smoothly.
“Everything is in excellent shape,” she said. “It’s a lot of work but it will be over in a few weeks.”
