Apply to vote now in the Town Election: No Candidate’s Night coming (Updated – again)

As I’ve previously posted, residents are already able to vote in this spring’s Town election. While in-person voting is scheduled for a month from tomorrow, you don’t have to wait.

Applications are available now for early ballots. And you don’t have to claim a planned absence to apply. This year, every registered Southborough voter is eligible to apply to vote by mail.

If voting by mail is your preference, you’ll want to apply for your ballot soon. Applications can be submitted through email or the Town’s dropoff box.

If you aren’t yet registered to vote, take care of that right away here. (You technically have until June 6th to do that. But, given the turnaround needed for mail-in ballot applications, you’d risk missing the chance to vote by mail.)

Last time I posted about the mail-in ballots, I advised waiting to hear from candidates. Since then, all candidates in the only Southborough race have posted letters for blog readers. Plus, I can confirm that Candidates Night won’t be held this year (even virtually).

Running for the two seats on the board are:

• Lisa Braccio (incumbent) – click here for letter
• Peter W. LaPine – click here for letter
• Chelsea Marie Malinowski – click here for letter

[Editor’s Note: I forgot to share earlier that there is another race that I was unable to get confirmation of until this week. The Regional School Committee has three Northborough candidates running for two seats.]* 

Before casting your votes, you should also be aware of the write-in candidates for two of the vacant seats on the ballot. 

No candidates returned papers in time to be on the ballot for the following positions. But the residents currently serving in those seats would like your votes (and no one else has made their interest known to me or the Town Clerk):

• Assabet Regional School Committee – Mark Pietrewicz
• Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds – William Boland

To win those seats, the candidates just need a simple majority (which could be as little as one vote).

There is one other vacancy. The Housing Authority has two available seats and only one candidate. However, no one has publicly asked for write-in support for that post.

For the full list of everyone else running in this election, see my March 26th post. You can also view the sample ballot here. 

To access the application for the early ballot, click here . The form notes:

Although the deadline to apply for a ballot to be mailed is 12noon on the day before an election, you must allow enough time for this application to be processed, sent to you via the US Mail, and be returned. Allow at least 10 days!

Ballots must be returned to the Town House (not the polling location) by the close of the polls on election day.

Applications can also be mailed or dropped in the green mail box outside of Town House – 17 Common Street.

If you do plan to wait to vote in person, you should note that the hours are reduced this year and the school entrance has changed. The election will be held on Tuesday, June 16 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Trottier Band Room. Voters will enter through the school’s front door. (You can read more about that here.)

*Updated (5/15/20 1:19 pm): I initially forgot to note the second race on the ballot . (I was unable to get confirmation of it until this week.) The two Northborough seats for the Regional School Committee are being sought by three candidates: Incumbent Sean O’Shea, Christopher Covino, and Thomas Edward Dalton. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any info on those candidates from this election.

I tend to think of that as a race that should be decided by Northborough voters. But we can technically vote in that race and you may disagree. I did find coverage of two of the three candidates running for one vacancy last year, first through a school committee vote then by Town election. The committee vote minutes from February 2019 are here. The May election was covered in the Community Advocate and Metrowest Daily News.

Updated (5/19/20 2:32 pm): The Northborough Guide posted messages from 2 of the 3 Regional candidates for Northborough here.

Updated (5/26/20 8:18 am): The Northborough Guide added a statement for the third Northborough candidate for the Regional committee who is also running for Northborough Moderator and Selectman. Thomas Dalton’s statement is a religious assertion about the pandemic and a “divine plan” with no reference to the election or any town/school positions he is running for.

Here are the direct links to the the statements (that actually reference schools) by the other two candidates: Sean O’Shea and Chris Covino.