By Sam Drysdale, State House News Service
Massachusetts will see higher turnout in next Tuesday’s primary elections than it did in 2022, Secretary of State William Galvin predicted Thursday while urging voters who have not yet returned their mail-in ballots to avoid putting them in the mail and instead vote in person or use a drop box.
Speaking at a press conference in the State Library, Galvin said 2026 turnout is difficult to project because voting habits have changed significantly since the last midterm primary. More voters now favor voting by mail or early and in person, he said, making comparisons with 2022 less precise.
Still, early numbers point upward.
As of Thursday morning, the state had received about 364,000 Democratic ballots through early in-person voting and vote by mail, along with about 73,000 Republican ballots, Galvin’s office said. Both figures are higher than the corresponding totals four years ago.
“I’m obviously aware that in a number of other states, there’s been pronounced increases in the Democratic primary turnout,” Galvin said, attributing some of that trend to the political environment under President Donald Trump’s administration.
In 2022, about 777,000 Democratic ballots and about 275,000 Republican ballots were cast. Galvin estimated that this year’s Democratic turnout could reach roughly 800,000 with Republican turnout around 280,000.
“That’s my guess, and it is a guess,” he said.
The 2026 primaries feature fewer statewide contests than the previous midterm primary. There are only two statewide party nominations being decided: Republicans will choose their nominee for governor, while Democrats will select a U.S. Senate nominee. But Galvin noted that several high-profile Democratic congressional contests could help drive participation.
The state’s growing number of unenrolled voters also remains a factor. Democratic enrollment has fallen below 25% of Massachusetts voters, Galvin said, while Republican enrollment is between 7% and 8%. Increasingly, he said, Massachusetts voters are choosing to remain unenrolled, allowing them to decide which party’s primary to participate in when an election arrives.
With Tuesday approaching, Galvin issued a particularly pointed warning to voters who have requested mail-in ballots but have not yet returned them. More than 100,000 ballots sent to voters had not been received by the state as of Thursday.
“They have the right to go in and vote in person should they choose to, but we strongly recommend if they were going to vote by mail, do not mail the ballot,” Galvin said. “It’s too late.”
Instead, voters should bring their completed ballots to an official drop box or vote in person. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“We just don’t want to see people who have made a good faith effort to vote not have their vote count,” he said.
Galvin also addressed the continuing legal fight over Trump’s efforts to restrict mail voting. He emphasized that the federal executive orders at issue do not affect Tuesday’s elections.
“They were never intended to affect the primary, mostly because the drafter of the so-called executive order has no interest in primaries as much as he has in trying to make sure he can help his party in the election,” Galvin said about Trump.
The orders call on the U.S. Postal Service to restrict the delivery of mail-in ballots in states that don’t hand over a list of eligible voters. They also direct the Homeland Security Department and Social Security Administration to create a list of certified absentee voters, which the Postal Service would refer to when delivering ballots.
Trump has blamed mail-in ballots for his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden, calling them “inherently corrupt,” though he has said he has used the method to cast his own votes.
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” Trump said when he signed the order in March to limit mail-in voting. “It’s horrible, what’s gone on. It’s very clearly covered … I think this will help a lot with elections.”
Galvin said Thursday, “The bottom line is the issues before the United States Supreme Court would only affect the general election.”
Massachusetts is continuing its own legal challenge, with a hearing scheduled for next week. Galvin said the practical difficulties of implementing major changes to mail voting so close to November could make Trump’s directives impossible to carry out this year.
“It would be bad policy at any time, but impractical completely to try to do it at this time,” he said. “It will not be able to happen.”
Galvin went further in describing what he believes is behind the effort.
“This whole issue, with regard to Trump, when it comes to vote-by-mail, is a strategy,” he said. “It’s a strategy to prevent people from voting and interfere with people’s right to vote, because he believes that his people, the people that vote for him, will show up in person, and anybody else he doesn’t trust.”
Asked whether Massachusetts voters should make alternative plans for November because of the uncertainty around mail-in voting, Galvin said he was not advising them to do so yet. But he said he had already sought additional authority from the Legislature to expand voting options if necessary.
“I asked them for additional authority to do some things if I had to deal with that situation. They didn’t give it to me,” Galvin said. “But I’m used to that.”
He said the state could consider expanding early, in person voting or polling hours, as well as finding other ways to deliver ballots.
“Maybe I’ll have drones,” Galvin said with a wry smile.
He also discussed federal election observers expected at some Massachusetts polling places Tuesday.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice pledged to send monitors to observe polling locations in Boston and New Bedford for Sept. 1 primary elections. Gov. Maura Healey previously claimed this was “about intimidation” and “an effort to try to scare voters.”
U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in a video posted on X, “This is something that DOJ does routinely.”
“We’re sending the monitors into cities and counties where there might have been some problems in the recent elections,” Dhillon said.
Galvin said Thursday the state has historically worked cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Justice and federal officials, including during both Democratic and Republican administrations. Federal observers generally monitor election procedures in communities covered by the Voting Rights Act, he said, with Lawrence and other midsized cities among the places where he expects them to show up.
“We’ve never had in the past, at least, an adversarial relationship with the DOJ,” Galvin said.
He stressed that observers may watch the process but cannot interfere with election officials or interact with voters.
“This is not new, and nor is it something we can’t work with, provided it’s clear they’re there to observe, to see, not to interfere,” he said.
Galvin sought to remind voters Thursday that the primary elections are consequential.
“It sets the table for who’s going to appear on the November ballot,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important.”
