Early voting meets with widespread approval

by Anonym · Sunday, October 30, 2016

by Marty Green

Early voting has gotten a warm reception in Harvard. Monday, Oct. 24, was the first day voters could take advantage of the new practice, and Town Clerk Janet Vellante said 108 people had cast ballots by closing time. Asked to describe the day, she said simply, “Busy!”

Throughout the week, voters continued to come in at an average of about 90 people a day. By 11 a.m. Saturday, a total of 527 people had voted early, or about 13 percent of Harvard’s voting population. And voters were still arriving, with another hour to go before Town Hall closed. Many voters were more than willing to say what they thought about the process.

“It’s wonderful—very convenient. I work in Boston, and it’s hard to get to the polls with my commute,” Chris Durham said. “And I can vote with my daughter. Otherwise she’d be in school. It’s some father-daughter time.” His daughter, Charlotte, agreed and added that she was voting for the first time.

Other reactions were also mostly positive:

“I think it’s awesome” (Diane Cullen)

“I’m really happy. I would have been out of the country on the regular day.” (Cris Cataudella)

“Early voting—it’s the best thing in the world.” (Bonnie Heudorfer)

“It’s a lot more convenient … I have a meeting that night [Nov. 8], and it would have been hard to get to the polls.” (Christopher Kennedy)

“I want to get the whole damn thing over with, so I can really justify not listening to the news anymore.” (Woman who chose to be anonymous)

One man, when asked if he would miss the festive aura of traditional Election Day, responded incredulously, “What? Will I miss standing in line?”

Many of Harvard’s regular election workers volunteered to work extra hours to make early voting possible. Fran Maiore and Mary Jarvis, who were helping Saturday morning, said that in general people seemed very pleased with the chance to vote at a time of their choosing. The two election workers added that many voters had commented on the ease of parking with just a few other voters at Town Hall, rather than among a crowd at the Bromfield School. Jarvis noted that it was also much easier for someone who was bringing an elderly or disabled person to vote, because the distance from the parking places was shorter than at Bromfield and the waiting time was less.

Most of the people who voted early cheerfully accepted stickers that stated, “I voted.” Several voters then placed the stickers on their canine friends who were waiting, with varying amounts of patience, by the Town Hall doors.

Early voting will continue at Town Hall through next Thursday during the following hours: