Sec. Galvin Sees Big Tuesday Turnout

Secretary William Galvin holds up specimen ballots during a pre-election press conference on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Sam Doran/SHNS)

The state's top elections official anticipates record voter turnout in Massachusetts for Tuesday's election, exceeding the almost 3.7 million voters who went to the polls in 2020.

"We have 1.7 [million] almost having already been returned, we expect more votes and ballots to come back from the mail-out ballots over the next 28 hours," Secretary of State William Galvin said Monday morning during a press conference about the election and voting.

Galvin said the contentious presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is likely what's driving so many people to the polls.

He said expanded voting options, like mail-in ballots and an extended early voting period, have created more opportunities for residents to cast their ballots. However, at this point in the election process, he warned that voters should no longer vote by mail.

If a voter wants to be sure their ballot gets counted, he said, they can drop it off Monday or Tuesday at a ballot drop box outside a municipal building or at their local election office. He said you cannot drop a mail-in ballot off at a polling location.

Mailed ballots that are postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 5 and received by local election offices by Friday, Nov. 8 will still be counted, but Galvin said that is a less reliable way to vote at this point.

The polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. People who are still waiting in line at 8 p.m. will still be allowed to vote, though no one will be allowed to join the line after 8 p.m.

Galvin said he is not worried about political violence at polls on Election Day, but reminded voters that state law prohibits political activity within 150 feet of polling locations — including wearing political clothing. He also said there are police officers at every polling place, and that election officials have been trained in detail.

"We're not aware of any particular threats, as the phrase goes," Galvin said. He added, "Given what we've seen at the locations -- we've had early in-person locations going now for a couple of weeks, and we did up until last Friday when many voters were coming out, and I was at several of them myself -- there were no activities of concern," Galvin said.

As the ways in which elections are run have come under fire in recent years and former President Donald Trump in 2020 publicly denounced the results of the election that he lost to President Joe Biden, Galvin said Monday that he has faith in elections officials around the country and in the democratic process.

"As the now senior election administrator in the United States, amongst all the states, I think what we've seen over the last several weeks in the remarkable turnout of almost 80 million citizens under intense security with continued review of activities, what we've seen is the continued commitment of not just voters who participate, but also on the integrity of those who run elections in our country," Galvin said.

Galvin is in his eighth term as secretary of state of Massachusetts. He said top election officials in other states have called his office for advice during this election season.

"I may not agree with the policies and procedures of other states. I may not certainly agree with the choice of candidates, but I can tell you, the people who administer elections in the United States are people of integrity. They are honest people, and the tallies they present are honest tallies," he said.

After Tuesday, there will be three days for mail-in ballots to come in, and 10 days for overseas ballots to be returned. There will be unofficial results before that time, but the election results cannot be officially certified by the Governor's Council until all the ballots are counted -- that usually occurs in December, Galvin said.

The Electoral College meets Dec. 17, so Massachusetts will have to certify its results before that date.

In addition to the presidential election that is drawing a lot of voters, residents are also filling in bubbles in a race for U.S. Senate, the Congressional delegation, all 200 state legislative seats, five ballot questions, and other state and local races. Galvin said of the down-ballot races, the ones capturing most people's attention are the five statewide ballot questions.

He reminded voters to be sure to turn the ballot over, as the ballot questions -- which are quite lengthy -- go over onto the back of the physical paper sheet.

As for state legislative seats, he said the most activity so far in early voting has been around the few open or contested seats. Most Massachusetts voters do not have a choice to make over who represents them in the House or Senate on Beacon Hill, but at least three new senators and 18 new representatives will be elected in the small handful of contests for open seats.

Galvin singled out a particular race on the South Shore for the seat Sen. Susan Moran is vacating as she seeks a county office. Democrat Rep. Dylan Fernandes and Republican Rep. Mathew Muratore are battling over that open Senate seat in a heated race that has drawn a lot of campaign cash.

"In the Senate there's an open seat on the South Shore, there's a couple, a couple open seats, and a couple challengers. In the House, it's mostly the open seats. There aren't too many challenged races," Galvin said.