Election Day is just one day on the calendar, but voting is our right and we shouldn’t have unnecessary obstacles, so, many states, including Massachusetts, have implemented ways to make voting more accessible – early voting and voting by mail. That’ll come in especially handy this year because the ballot is 5 pages long, with nine ballot questions! Voting will be faster and less frustrating if you’ve made your decisions about the ballot questions ahead of time. You can find them all on the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website, and organizations you trust may have made recommendations.

Why are people encouraging voting early this year?

We’ve heard many people express concerns about potential Election Day disruptions and the counting of ballots. At this point, all systems in Boston are working as usual, but why worry? By voting early here and across the US, we preempt those concerns and demonstrate throughout October that we believe in democracy.

Also, when more people vote early, turnout is higher. Campaigns refresh their lists regularly; they remove names of people who already voted and shift to those who might need a nudge. Higher turnout often produces bigger win margins, which are harder to challenge. For people concerned that some candidates might not accept the results if they lose, bigger win margins are key, as in Hungary’s recent election.

Prepare for voting

Check your voting status, make updates ahead of time, check what will be on your ballot and where to vote if you wait till Election Day. You can do all of those tasks on the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website.

Not registered to vote yet? You can register till Oct 24, and from Oct 17-24, you can vote early on the same day as you register. For that one week, we have same-day voter registration. If Question 4 passes, we’ll have it for good, as in twenty-four other states.

Voting early in person runs from October 17-30, in different locations on different days. If you vote early in person, you’ll avoid any challenge on November 3 – in your own busy life or disruptions at the polls you may be worried about. Any Boston voter may vote in any Boston early voting location; you’re not limited to your own neighborhood. Locally, the upcoming early voting sites are Roche Community Center in West Roxbury on Saturday and Sunday, October 24-25 from 11 am - 7 pm, and from 12 noon to 8 pm are weekday sites: Saint Nectarios Church in Roslindale on Tuesday, October 27, Saint George Orthodox Church in West Roxbury on Thursday October 29, and Hyde Park Community Center, also on October 29.

Voting by mail - If you’ve already applied for a mail-in ballot, it’ll arrive soon if you don’t have it yet. You can apply until October 27. Once you vote, drop it in a drop box, and (this step is important) use TrackMyBallotMA online to make sure it was accepted. If it was rejected (maybe there’s a smudge or a missing signature), you can still vote in person.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." So, let’s vote!

boston.gov/elections - for voting locations, drop box locations, and more

TrackMyBallot: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/TrackMyBallot

Online voter registration, updates, status checks: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/

Ballot Question info from Sec of State:

https://gvimes.link/blltqs