State election is coming up. Everything you need about voting this fall

Voters have lots of choices to make in the upcoming general election, but there are two decisions that are first and foremost: when and where to vote.

From voting at home, to visiting town hall, to heading to the polls on Election Day, voters have fewer excuses than ever not to cast a ballot, thanks to the opportunity to vote early in person or by mail.

"Early voting will make the most fundamental right of our citizens more convenient than ever to exercise," the Dennis town administration notes in an announcement about early voting hours there. "We encourage all of our citizens to exercise that right and take advantage of the opportunity to vote on their schedules."

The general election is Nov. 8, but registered voters can begin filling out and returning ballots on Oct. 22, when early voting begins.

Secretary of State William Galvin has implemented procedures this year to ensure voters have more chances to vote. In short, expanded early voting opportunities and mail-in voting, with no excuse required for those choosing not to head to the polls on Election Day.

Early voting will continue until Nov. 4. Changes have also been made to give voters more time and opportunities to register to vote.

Popular mail-in voting keeping clerks extra busy

Mail-in balloting, which was implemented in Massachusetts in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has proven to be a popular alternative that many voters prefer.

Dennis Town Clerk Theresa Bunce, who is also president of the Cape and Islands Town Clerks Association, said voting by mail is here to stay, at least for state and federal elections. For town elections, select boards and councils can vote to opt out of allowing mail-in voting up to 45 days prior to their elections, Bunce noted, and may also vote to opt in to allowing early, in-person voting — but that's a story for next spring.

All around the Cape, the clerks' offices are busily embarking on the mail-in voting process, labeling envelopes and stuffing them with ballots to be mailed as soon as possible to voters who have indicated they want the option to vote from home.

"We have over 3,200 ballots to get out in the mail," Bunce said Thursday.

She said the task is time-consuming, and she has a list of helpers she calls on to assist, as the clerk and her staff also have their usual work to keep on track

"All of the town clerks offices, we're all stressed out compared to the work load at hand. You need about 20 more hands to get the work done," she said.

But Bunce and her staff do their best to "just go with the flow."

"The voters like it and we just have to work our way through all the challenges that come with it," she said.

The various town clerks have been sharing ideas with each other about how they work to make the process less overwhelming, Bunce said. On the plus side, they all went through it for the 2020 general election, so they already have experience with what does and does not work.

"We feel it's not as crazy as it was in 2020, because it was all new to us then," she said. "It's still a daunting task, but we're more aware of best practices."

At the end of the day, Bunce added, "We do things to please the public, and we will always be here to help."

She noted that for those who do choose to mail their ballots, or drop them off at their town clerk's office, "as soon as the ballot is in the office it is considered a cast ballot," so there can be no voting again in person.

Mail-in balloting has fellow clerks quite busy now, too.

"We have 4,800 people in the system to receive ballots, and 600 to process still," Yarmouth Assistant Town Clerk Susan Regan said on Wednesday.

That's a lot of mailing to be done, but compared to the last general election in 2020, it's kind of a breeze.

"Last time we did close to 11,000, but that was during COVID," said Regan, who doesn't expect quite the volume seen two years ago.

In Harwich, Town Clerk Emily Mitchell said more voters are looking to vote remotely for the general election than did for the primary. "For the primary we had around 2,700," she said.

By comparison, as of Thursday afternoon her office already had more than 3,000 requests for mail-in ballots  for the general election, and was still counting.

"Each day we're getting more," she said. "It's very popular."

The story is the same in Barnstable, where Town Clerk Ann Quirk said she and her staff are preparing more than 6,000 mail-in ballots. They had plenty back in 2020, too. While awaiting the ballots from the state this week, they got a head start by preparing the envelopes.

What's on the ballot

So, what is all the voting for? According to the voting guide mailed out by the secretary of state, there are 13 offices on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Voters will make decisions on: Governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, representative in Congress, councilor, senator in general court, representative in general court, district attorney, sheriff, county commissioner for Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Norfolk and Plymouth counties; Franklin Council of Government (Franklin County only), and Bristol Southern District register of deeds.

There are also four statewide ballot questions.

Question 1 proposes amending the state constitution to impose an additional 4% tax on personal income exceeding $1 million. The proposed additional tax would be levied only on the money earned over the first million.

More: Question 1: Should millionaires pay higher taxes? Here's how the money would be spent

Question 2 refers to the dental insurance industry and asks voters to decide whether insurance companies should be obliged to spend 83% of premium dollars on patient care.

More: Question 2: Should more dental insurance premium money be spent on care? What to consider

Question 3 proposes changes to the state’s liquor licensing laws, but only for off-site consumption (so not restaurants or bars). In addition to changing how many licenses a retailer can hold, it bans customers from using self-service scanners to check out their liquor purchases, allows retailers to accept out-of-state IDs as proof of age for liquor sales and it would also re-jigger how fines levied against retailers are calculated.

More: MA retailers can't sell people liquor without in-state ID, Question 3 changes that, more

Question 4 asks voters if they want to keep a law approved earlier this year allowing all Massachusetts residents, regardless of citizenship status, to apply for and receive a driver’s license. This law was passed in May, vetoed and then reaffirmed by an override.

More: Question 4: Do we keep the law that gives access to driver's licenses to all residents?

What to know about voter registration

In order to cast any ballot, whether in person or by mail, you must be registered to vote. Check your voter registration status with your town clerk or visit www.VoteInMA.com —  you can also register there.

Starting this year, the deadline to register to vote is extended to 10 days before any election. If you are not registered to vote by Oct. 29, you cannot vote in the Nov. 8 general election. The deadline also applies to those who wish to change their registration (Independent, Republican, Democrat etc.)

Once registered, you don't have to re-register each time there is an election, unless you have moved or you have allowed your registration to lapse.

Registration can be done by mail as well. Request a mail-in registration form by calling 800-462-8683. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked or delivered to your town clerk by Oct. 29.

Note that online voter registration must be completed by 11:59 p.m. that day. You can also register in person by visiting your town clerk's office, but this must also be done by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.

Completing your mail-in ballot

Voters who have requested mail-in ballots should fill them out and mail in the pre-addressed, postage pre-paid return envelope. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 8 and must reach your local election official by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12 in order to be counted.

Voters can also return their mail-in ballots in person to their town election office/town clerk, mail-in ballot drop boxes or any early voting site in their town, as long as they do so by the closing of the polls on Nov. 8.

The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. Requests for mail-in ballots must be submitted to your town clerk. Vote-by-mail ballots were also recently sent to all registered voters in Massachusetts.

Early voting takes place Oct. 22-Nov. 4

Starting this year, there are more days for voters who elect to do early, in-person voting, including guaranteed weekend voting hours.

Every community is required to offer early voting in at least one location, as well as voting opportunities on the weekends of Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 29-30. The largest towns must offer early voting on both Saturday and Sunday. On the Cape, Barnstable has scheduled early voting for Saturday and Sunday.

Early voting locations for each town are listed on town websites, as well as at www.VoteInMA.com

There is no need to make an appointment.

Each town clerk chooses their own early voting locations and sets their own schedules, but every community needs to offer early voting for a minimum number of hours, which is based on the number of voters in that city or town, according to the secretary of state's office.

Early-voting schedules and locations for the Nov. 8 state election will be available at least five days before the start of the early-voting period.

The secretary of state reminds voters to remember that early voting may not be available in your community on every day of the early-voting period and to check your town's website for its schedule.

Some material from articles written by Kinga Birondy (kbirondy@wickedlocal.com) for sister publications with Wickedlocal.com was used in this article.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Here's when & where to vote in the Nov. 8 election