March 3 is Super Tuesday, in which Massachusetts joins 13 other states to choose Democratic, Green-Rainbow, Libertarian, and Republican candidates to run in the 2020 presidential election. Harvard voters will also help choose candidates to run for the 37th Middlesex District seat vacated by Jennifer Benson. Early voting is being done in the town clerk’s office, but on primary day, voters who have waited will cast their ballots in the Bromfield cafeteria.
To participate, voters must first select a party. Those who have already registered for one will receive a pair of that party’s ballots, one for the special 37th district state primary and one for the presidential primary. Those who have registered as unenrolled can choose the party in whose primary they wish to cast a vote. In addition to presidential candidates, voters will vote for state and town committee members for their party of choice. Specimens of each party’s ballot can be viewed on the town of Harvard website on the town clerk’s page. (See https://www.harvard.ma.us/town-clerk/pages/specimen-ballots-march-3-2020-presiden tial-primary.)
With early voting scheduled to begin Feb. 24, Town Clerk Marlene Kenney was in her office at Town Hall this past Saturday morning to test Harvard’s two voting machines. The test is required by state law to confirm that the machines are operable, accurately scanning the ballots and counting votes. As stated in the required notice of the test, which was displayed in her office, and her notifications to the Democratic and Republican committee chairs, she started the test at 9 a.m. sharp.
Soon after Kenney began the test Saturday, in walked Duane Barber, an Oak Hill Road resident and newly appointed election official, eager to get acquainted with the voting machines and procedures. Kenney said she had never had observers present for a test and now, with a reporter looking on, she had two.
Earlier, Kenney had filled in sample ballots to make sure the machines would scan each little filled-in oval that indicates a vote. She had 50 samples each for Republican and Democratic ballots, and five each for the Green-Rainbow and Libertarian ballots, including write-ins.
The test consisted of feeding the sample ballots one by one into the voting machines. Using both hands, Kenney slid each ballot into the machine’s slot, and the ballot was slowly drawn in. She would send these sample ballots through the machines four times as required by state regulations. A paper receipt coils out as the ballots are fed into the machine. It takes six seconds for the machine to scan each ballot. And Harvard’s machines passed, she confirmed.
The test is a simple one, not complex. As an observer, I left Town Hall Saturday morning appreciative of this time-consuming and behind-the-scenes ballot test as a first step to ensuring free and fair elections, not to mention hassle-free voting.
Since then, according to Assistant Town Clerk Catherine Bowen, a thin but steady stream of citizens has been taking advantage of early voting, which is available through Feb. 27 during regular office hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On March 31, citizens will vote in a special state election for the Republican or Democratic winner of the primary election for state representative of the 37th Middlesex District.
Each state has its own regulations and procedures governing elections and voting. In Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin is the head of the election division. Information about the laws and regulations pertaining to voting in Massachusetts can be accessed at www.sec.state.ma.us.
