A loaded ballot featuring high-profile statewide races and a hefty list of questions created pockets of long waits at polling places across Massachusetts, according to Secretary of State William Galvin.
“My office is receiving reports from clerks around the state of high voter turnout at polling places,” Galvin said in a statement Tuesday evening. “Because of this high turnout and the unusually long ballots, we have also received some anecdotal reports of longer wait times for voters depositing their ballot in the ballot box after voting.”
That strong turnout was mirrored in Boston, where the city’s Election Department posted on social media just after 6 p.m. that 158,019 ballots had been cast, with 35% of registered voters weighing in.
At several precincts, election workers alerted voters to wait for the scanner to display “System Ready” when inserting each of the three ballot cards, creating brief bottlenecks during the evening rush.
“While these longer wait times are not widespread, I ask that voters be patient if there is a line to cast their ballot,” Galvin advised. “I also want to remind anyone who is voting later this evening that they will be allowed to vote as long as they are in line at their polling place at 8 p.m.”
David Braverman, an Allston resident celebrating his 38th birthday Tuesday, told the Herald this election caught his eye particularly because of the nine ballot questions — especially Question 8, which seeks to repeal the legalization of recreational marijuana.
If Question 8 passes, retail sales of recreational marijuana would end statewide, forcing many adult-use dispensaries to shut down or transition exclusively to medical care, while cutting off state and municipal cannabis tax revenues.
“It is a fairly complicated issue for me,” Braverman said outside the Jackson Mann Community Center. “I don’t like seeing all of these shops; there’s a lot of litter from the products around, a lot of weed in the air.”
“Personally, I am in recovery,” he added. “I was really divided on that. I generally believe people should have the right to consume things as they want.”
Before polls even opened Tuesday morning, Galvin reported that statewide early and mail-in turnout stood at 22.3%, with over 1.1 million votes already cast.
“It is a big election year,” Braverman said. “I think a lot of people here are eager to put a check on national trends. I think there is probably a greater turnout because of the broader political climate.”
Massachusetts voters faced a whopping nine ballot questions this year — the most on a statewide ballot since 1994 — ranging from recreational marijuana rules and primary election formats to tax refund triggers.
Scott Matalon, president of Allston Village Main Streets and a board director for the Allston/Brighton Chamber of Commerce, said he turns out every year out of civic duty, even if the ballot choices fall short.
“Sometimes we are given choices that are not the choices that we want,” Matalon told the Herald. “You look at these questions, and I can think of a dozen things that I would rather vote on. … People have rights, but we are insulated.”
Meanwhile, just across the state line in New Hampshire, former Patriots stars Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola greeted voters in Goffstown and Windham alongside Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican seeking reelection.
“It doesn’t matter what side you’re voting for,” Gronkowski said in a video posted on social media. “It just matters that you’re coming out and voting.”
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