Super Tuesday isn’t the only primary in a presidential election year. In just over a month, voters will choose who they want to run for state offices on the November general election ballot.*
I’m sharing info on important deadlines, who is on the ballots in our town, plus potential issues that some Southborough voters who selected Vote by Mail may need to straighten out. (Especially college students and residents with multiple/seasonal homes.)
Voting & Party Registration
If you are a member of one of the official parties you can only vote on their ballot.
But, if you are unenrolled in a party, you can choose which primary ballot yo want. That also extends to the “third party” political designations (Green, Rainbow, etc) that didn’t meet the threshold to be treated as a party this time.
In 2022, Libertarians had the same status as members of the “Pizza Party” and a long list of other “designations”. But even though they don’t have any listed candidates on the Southborough ballot, they do have their own primary this September. So Libertarians can’t vote in the Republican or Democratic primaries this time around.
But, you can change your party affiliation in time to vote. It’s the same deadline as registering to vote in Southborough — Saturday, August 24th. (You can do that on the state’s website or in person at the Town Clerk’s office.)
Voting By Mail
If you want to vote by mail, the application must be received by 5:00 pm on Monday, August 26th. You can find the form here.
If applied in the winter/spring to vote by mail for all of the 2024 elections, you should have received your primary mail-in ballot by now. If you haven’t received the ballot and believe you had previously made the request, please track your ballot status here.
(Although, if you recently received the state mailer giving you the option to apply, that should mean you didn’t selected that option for the September primary. In that case, you can simply fill out the postcard or apply online.)
Some residents might discover that the wrong address is on file. Town Clerk, Jim Hegarty, announced at a Select Board meeting two weeks ago that some Southborough voters need to reach out to fix their mailing address. (It’s an issue that could also applies to voting in November.)
Hegarty referred to residents who winter in Florida and/or summer at the Cape, plus students whose college addresses change each school year.
He explained in responding to the state’s mailer in December, some voters requested to vote by mail in each election. If you have seasonal addresses, it may have been directed to your other home. And unlike regular mail, our post office isn’t allowed to forward the mail-in ballots to a different address. Instead it gets returned to the Town Clerk.
You can contact the Town Clerk at 508-485-0710 ext 3005. or email townclerk@southboroughma.com if you have questions.
Note: One thing you shouldn’t contact the Town Clerk about is to complain about receiving a Vote by Mail application postcard (even if you previously told them you weren’t interested). Hegarty stressed that the application mailers are sent by the state, not the Town. As he has told people who have complained, it isn’t up to him.
Saving the Date/Planning to Vote
Regular in-person voting hours will be the standard 6:30 am – 8:00 pm in the gym at Trottier Middle School (49 Parkerville Road) on Tuesday, September 3rd. (Scroll down for info on Early Voting.**)
If you are voting by mail make sure to post it in time to be received by September 3rd. One option is use the Town’s election drop box at the Town House (17 Common St) before 8:00 pm that day.
Contests on the ballot
Below are details on who is competing for Southborough’s votes in the primaries. (I inserted links to their campaign websites so you can research their positions.) Only Democratic and Republican parties have candidates officially running in our precincts.
The Democratic Ballot (click here)
The Dems have only one contested race on the Southborough ballots. It’s a repeat of a contest two years ago. Since no other parties have candidates listed on their ballots for the seat, whoever wins will likely be uncontested in the general election:
- Governor’s Councillor – Third District The winner of this race will likely be uncontested in the general election.
- Marilyn Pettito Devaney (Incumbent, Watertown resident)
- Mara Dolan (Concord resident)
It looks like most of the other uncontested seats on the primary ballot will also be uncontested in the general election.
One exception is State Rep. Kate Donaghue. The Patch reports that a resident from Westborough, Boyd Conklin, has filed to run against her He isn’t on a primary ballot, since he is unenrolled with any official parties. (I was surprised to discover that for that office it only takes 150 signatures for a non-party candidate to quality to be on the state election ballot!)
The other race in the general is for the highest office on the state primary ballot. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren will be challenged by a Republican in her re-election bid. . .
The Republican Ballot (click here)
A three way race for the highest office on the ballot is also the only one positions with any candidates listed for Southborough voters to select:
- U.S. Senator
- Bob Antonellis (Medford resident)
- Ian Cain (Quincy resident)
- John Deaton (Swansea resident)
The Libertarian Ballot (click here)
There are no candidates, just write in slots. But, according to Hegarty, if the name you write in is a Democratic or Republican candidate, it will be counted as a blank. (Not happy with that option? Again, you have until the 24th to change your affiliation to unenrolled or one of the two big parties.)
*I’m guessing that posting about the primary will prompt some readers to note that one of the candidates who won the Super Tuesday primary won’t be on the ballot. As we all were reminded (or learned for the first time) this summer, the Presidential Primary didn’t actually select the candidate. As the Mass ballots indicated, we were simply telling the parties our “Presidential Preference”. Based on that, the party assigned delegates. Those delegates are technically free to vote for whoever they decide to support as the party’s candidate.
**Updated (8/16/24 4:22 pm):
Early Voting will be held in person at the Town House (17 Common Street):
- Saturday, August 24th – & Sunday, August 25th, 8:00 am to noon
- Monday, August 26th – Friday, August 30th, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
