Voting In Sudbury: Polls Now Open

Neal McNamara
·3 min read

SUDBURY, MA — Election Day in Sudbury is here, even though voting has been going on for weeks in what is shaping up to be a historic election.

In addition to the presidential and congressional races, there are several key races at the state and local level, plus two ballot questions. Sudbury voters will also be deciding two local ballot questions: a land purchase to extend the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, and spending about $28.8 million to rebuild the Fairbank Community Center, Atkinson Pool and senior center.

Voting will be different this year thanks to rules approved to expand early and mail-in voting in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are several ways residents can vote:

Mail-In Voting

Ballots can be returned by mail, emailed, faxed or returned by hand to the clerk's office. They can also be returned to the drop box outside Town Clerk's office at 322 Concord Road.

Mail-in ballots need to be postmarked by Nov. 3 and returned to the local election office no later than Nov. 6.

Regular voting

Polls in Massachusetts are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. You can also use the Secretary of State's website to find your polling place.

The following are the key contested races that will be on the ballot for Sudbury voters:

President/Vice President

  • Joe Biden/Kamala Harris (Democrat)

  • Donald Trump/Mike Pence (Republican)

House of Representatives

5th Congressional District

  • (i) Katherine Clark (D)

  • Caroline Colarusso (R)

3rd Congressional District (precinct 1 only)

  • (i) Lori Trahan (D)

U.S. Senate

  • (i) Edward Markey (D)

  • Kevin O'Connor (R)

  • Andre Gray (Green)

  • Frederick Mayock (I)

Ballot Questions

Question 1: "Right To Repair" Vehicle Access Requirement Initiative
Yes: A yes vote would require carmakers to expand access to mechanical data for all cars sold in Massachusetts beginning with model year 2022.
No: A no vote leaves the 2013 right-to-repair law unchanged.

Question 2: Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative
Yes: A yes vote favors adopting a system gives voters the option of ranking candidates on their ballot in order of preference, as opposed to selecting just one. And if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, the candidate with the least first-choice votes is eliminated, and the voters who preferred that candidate have their votes reallocated based on their second choices. Then the ballots are recounted and the process is repeated until one candidate breaks the 50 percent threshold.
No: A no vote keeps the current system in place.

Question 3: Land for Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

"Shall the Town of Sudbury be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition 2-1/2, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to acquire the parcel of land shown as Mile Post QBS 3.40 to QBS 4.80 on a Railroad Map dated July 22, 2020, prepared by CSX Transportation, Inc., and a plan dated July 20, 2020, copies of which are on file with the Town Clerk, consisting of 11.26 acres of land, more or less and any and all incidental and related costs associated therewith?

Question 4: New Fairbank Community Center

Shall the town of Sudbury be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition 2-1/2, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to design, permit, construct, and renovate the property located at 40 Fairbank Road, also known as the Fairbank Community Center and Atkinson Pool, and any and all incidental and related costs associated therewith, including without limitation the professional, design, engineering, and project management services, preparation of plans, specification and bidding documents, borrowing costs, purchase of equipment, technology, and furniture, as well as site preparation, demolition, landscaping, and relocation services and costs

Governor's Council

3rd District

  • (i) Marilyn Petitto Devaney (D)

Massachusetts State Senate

Middlesex and Worcester District (precincts 2, 3 only)

  • (i) James Eldridge (D)

3rd Middlesex District

  • (i) Michael Barrett (D)

Massachusetts House of Representatives

13th Middlesex District (precinct 3 only)

This article originally appeared on the Sudbury Patch