Getting Answers: more Massachusetts residents opting for mail-in ballots
HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - In four weeks, it’s is election day 2022 and while many people will take the traditional route and vote in person that day, it looks like a large number of voters in the Bay State are choosing to go with mail-in ballots.
The Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office reports that as of this week, one million mail-in ballots have been requested in Massachusetts.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, mail-in voting has become the new normal for many, instead of showing up to the polls. Holyoke City Clerk Brenna Murphy McGee told Western Mass News about the volume of absentee ballots she is seeing.
“It definitely has been growing in Holyoke. On a normal election, we would probably mail out anywhere between 200 to 500 absentee ballots. Now that it’s become permanent law and people can vote through the mail, we’re anticipating that we’ll send out between 4,000 ballots for this particular election,” McGee said.
Secretary of State William Galvin said mail-in votes will make up about 30 percent of the vote this November. He told Western Mass News that after multiple mail-in ballot election cycles under the belt, local election offices are counting votes faster and more securely than in previous years.
“We have improved our process. I think local election officials move much more quickly, voters are more comfortable and understand what they have to do. It’s postage prepaid. All of those things tend to improve its popularity,” Galvin explained.
However, before you request a mail-in ballot, there are some important dates you should be aware of.
“The deadline is November 1. That is the absolute deadline. Candidly, we hope people will do it before then because we have seen the mail services be much lower and much slower this year and not as effective at getting people back their ballots…We also have early and in-person, which will begin October 22,” Galvin noted.
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