Local

Early voting begins in MA on Saturday

BOSTON — Voters looking to cast an early ballot in person will be able to do so starting on Saturday, Oct. 17, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin said.

Early voting will continue each day through October 30th and each city and town will have at least one location where registered voters can cast their ballots on Saturday and Sunday. Early voting is available to all registered voters who have not already returned a mail-in ballot.

Voters who had previously applied to vote by mail but would now prefer to vote in person will be able to do so at any early voting location. The locations will also serve as ballot drop-off centers for voters who wish to return their mail-in ballots in person.

“This year, we have expanded the early voting period to be 14 days long, so that those who want to vote in person may choose the time that works best for them, over a period of many days to help avoid crowding,” Galvin said. “Because of voter enthusiasm, the first day of early voting is often the busiest day. If you want to vote at a time when there will be fewer people around, weekday voting is also available.”

Along with two weekends included in the early voting period, early voting must be offered in every city and town during the local election’s office regular business hours, and municipalities can extend those hours.

Social distancing measures will be in place at all early voting locations, where election workers will be limiting crowding inside and keeping surfaces sanitized.

You can find out more resources and a complete list of early voting locations here.

As of 4 p.m. on Friday, the state had already received 1,765,028 voting by mail applications, 8,687 more since yesterday, 1,706,744 ballots had already been mailed, an increase of 45,663 since yesterday and 480,763 returned ballots, an 86,881 increase from yesterday.

Currently, 37.8% of voters have applied to vote by mail. Of those who have applied, 96.7% have already been mailed a ballot, and of ballots mailed, 28.2% have already been returned.