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Marblehead voters had cast 4,296 ballots by 4 p.m. Wednesday, or 25.1% of the town’s 17,084 registered voters, according to figures the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office released that day. Statewide, 903,279 ballots had been cast, or 17.3% of 5,230,765 registered voters.
In Marblehead, 2,841 of those ballots came back by mail and 1,455 were cast in person during early voting. Statewide the split was 653,548 by mail and 249,731 in person. The counts reflect what local election officials had entered into the state voter database by 4 p.m., the Secretary’s office said.
That put Marblehead 38th among the state’s 351 cities and towns by the share of registered voters who have voted, and 16th among the 163 municipalities with at least 10,000 registered voters. Eastham led the state at 35.8%, or 1,787 of 4,997 registered voters. Mashpee led those 163 at 32.7%, or 4,430 of 13,529.
Marblehead’s rate was higher than that of every nearby community listed here, by the share of registered voters who have voted:
- Nahant: 23.0%, or 643 of 2,796
- Swampscott: 21.7%, or 2,788 of 12,842
- Beverly: 20.3%, or 6,299 of 31,078
- Salem: 13.8%, or 5,146 of 37,405
- Lynn: 9.6%, or 6,210 of 64,610
The count is climbing. On Oct. 13, when only mail ballots had come back, Marblehead’s total was 383. It was 3,358 on Monday and 3,840 on Tuesday. The 456 ballots added since Tuesday are a gain of 11.9% on that day’s 3,840. Statewide the count rose by 88,370, from 814,909 to 903,279, a gain of 10.8%.
None of those figures include Election Day. In the last state election, on Nov. 8, 2022, Marblehead cast 10,636 ballots in the governor’s race, blanks included, according to results from the Secretary’s Elections Division. This year’s count so far equals 40.4% of that total. The statewide count equals 36.0% of the 2,511,461 ballots cast in that race. In the 2024 presidential race the figure was 13,760. In the Sept. 1 primary the town cast 5,791 ballots, or 34.0% of the 17,042 voters then registered.
The Secretary’s figures are by municipality. They do not show turnout by precinct or party.
Mail ballots are still out. The Secretary’s figures show 4,340 sent to Marblehead voters and 2,841 returned, a return rate of 65.5%. That leaves 1,499 outstanding, or 34.5%. Statewide, 653,548 of the 1,063,259 mailed have come back, or 61.5%, leaving 409,711 outstanding.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin said Tuesday that voters still holding a mail ballot should skip the mail. “Within one week of Election Day, we always warn voters not to take the risk of mailing their ballot, if they are able to use a drop box instead,” Galvin said. “If you still have your mail-in ballot, you can bring it to a drop box or your local election office until 8 p.m. on Election Day.” A ballot postmarked by Election Day still counts if it arrives by Nov. 6, his office said. Drop box locations are listed at VoteInMA.com, and voters should use only a box in the city or town where they are registered.
A voter who has not returned a mail ballot may still vote early or at the polls, but the mail ballot is rejected if it arrives afterward, according to the Secretary’s vote-by-mail guidance. A mail ballot cannot be dropped off at a polling place on Election Day.
Early voting in Marblehead takes place at the Town Clerk’s office in Abbot Hall, 188 Washington St., for every precinct. The remaining hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, according to a notice from Town Clerk Robin A. Michaud’s office. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can check their precinct through the state’s Where Do I Vote lookup or by calling the Town Clerk’s office at 781-631-0528.
