BOSTON (WHDH) - Mail-in voting led to a record voter turnout in Tuesday’s primary election in Massachusetts, according to Secretary of State William Galvin.
“It was a very good day. I think it was a good day for democracy, I think it was a good day for Massachusetts,” Galvin said.
More than 1.5 million votes were cast in the election, two-thirds of which were sent in by mail due to coronavirus concerns at polling locations.
“Independent voters who usually don’t vote in primaries were enticed into voting because it was so easy to do,” Galvin said.
Election officials in Brockton say their biggest challenge was getting enough poll workers to show up amid the ongoing pandemic.
“I think they were anxious and a little nervous, even though we did follow all the CDC guidelines,” said Cynthia Scrivani, Executive Director of the Brockton Election Committee. “They just didn’t want to be in an atmosphere with a bunch of people.”
Canton officials say their biggest issue was processing all of the vote-by-mail ballots in a quick manner.
“They were continuing to come in right up until 8 o’clock last evening,” Canton Town Clerk Tracy Kenney said. “We had to get the ballots processed to make sure the voter got credit for returning the ballot to us.”
Officials in Boston say they were slowed down by voters who asked for ballots by mail by then showed up to vote in person.
“We’re going to work on the logistics for how the ballots were distributed,” Galvin said.
Galvin says he expects more than three million voters to cast ballots in November.
“
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)