Early voting under way ahead of primary

Completed Massachusetts presidential primary ballots began streaming in Monday morning when the state officially began its first-ever period of early voting in a primary contest. Massachusetts offered early voting ahead of the 2016 and 2018 November general elections, but the state is in new territory this week with five days designated for ballot-casting before the March 3 presidential primary.

In Boston, voters can cast their ballots at Boston City Hall every day this week beginning at 9 a.m. Early voting in Dorchester and Mattapan will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27 from noon to 8 p.m. at All Saints’ Church at 209 Ashmont St. and First Parish Church at 10 Parish St. and at the Mildred Avenue Community Center in Mattapan.

On Monday, the first day for early voting, there were 1,184 ballots cast at City Hall, according to the Election Department.

In 2016, the last presidential cycle, about 1 million voters cast ballots during a two-week early voting period before the general election, constituting about a third of all votes cast. Another two-week stretch ahead of the 2018 general midterm election attracted about 600,000 early voters.

While Secretary of State William Galvin said it is too early to predict turnout in either early voting or the primary race itself, he said precincts across the state — which may operate different early-voting hours from one another — reported “a generally good reception and good turnout” in the first hour they were open Monday.

The secretary stressed that early-cast ballots are final and that voters will not have a chance to change their minds on election day.

“If they have some doubt as to their choice or they want to wait for additional debate or want to see what’s happening in other states, they probably shouldn’t do early voting,” Galvin said. “But if you know what you want to do and have decided what you want to do, early voting is an excellent opportunity to get it in, not to worry about the weather, not to worry about a crowd, not to worry about a schedule.”

Early voting will end at the close of polls on Friday, allowing Galvin’s office to process voter rolls and ensure that those who already cast ballots are not eligible to do so on the Super Tuesday primary date.

Applications for absentee ballots will remain available until noon next Monday and can be submitted either in-person at local election offices or by mail before that time.

With Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign seemingly growing in strength after another win in Nevada over the weekend, early voting in Massachusetts began with home-state Sen. Elizabeth Warren in search of places to put a win on the board.

Warren and Sanders are running neck-and-neck in Massachusetts, according to the latest polling, but they are hardly the only two Democrats competing in the Bay State. 

Massachusetts is one of 14 states that will vote on March 3— Super Tuesday— just days after the next contest on Saturday in South Carolina. Warren was in the Palmetto State on Monday campaigning with US Rep. Ayanna Pressley ahead of another debate there Tuesday night where she will look to build on her performance at a Nevada debate that helped her raise $14 million.

Warren enjoys significant support in Massachusetts, as evidenced by the throngs of high-profile leaders who fanned out across the state over the weekend to rally support for the senator. Those supporters included Attorney General Maura Healey, US Reps. Jim McGovern and Lori Trahan and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera.

She picked up another notable backer on Monday when House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he would be voting for Warren in the primary.

“Watching her in the debates and what-not, I think she’s best suited to be the next president of the United States,” DeLeo said.

Warren’s hope moving into Super Tuesday is that the field will begin to consolidate and she can stand out as the consensus candidate, occupying an ideological lane somewhere between Sanders and whoever emerges as the moderate standard bearer.

“The road to the Democratic nomination is not paved with statewide winner-take-all victories,” Warren campaign manager Roger Lau wrote in a memo after the Iowa caucuses, predicting at the time that Warren was “poised to finish in the top two in over half of Super Tuesday states” and walk away with a sizable share of delegates.

But, by no means, does the senator have a monopoly on the Democratic establishment in her home state. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s roots run deep in Massachusetts, and Sanders rolled out 18 endorsements on Monday to highlight his support in places like Somerville and Cambridge — Warren’s home — bringing his total to 24.

Sanders won close to 50 percent of the vote in Massachusetts in 2016, losing the state to Hillary Clinton by just over 17,000 votes.

The Reporter’s Bill Forry contributed to this report.


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