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Marblehead voters cast more ballots Tuesday than in any midterm election since 2018, yet the town turned out a smaller share of its voters than in any midterm in at least 20 years.
At least 10,808 ballots were cast, or 63.3 percent of 17,084 registered voters, according to unofficial figures from the town clerk’s office. In 2022 the town cast 10,636 ballots, or 64.7 percent of 16,439 registered voters. This year’s count is 172 ballots higher, but the rolls grew by 645 voters.
The low may not survive Friday. Mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 that reach the Town Clerk’s office in Abbot Hall by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, are counted then, and about 237 more ballots, for 11,045, would match 2022’s 64.7 percent. The town certifies its results by Nov. 18.
The longer record shows the same squeeze. Marblehead cast 11,621 ballots in 2018, or 73.2 percent of 15,869 registered voters; 9,820 in 2014, or 65.1 percent of 15,085; 10,170 in 2010, or 68.9 percent of 14,766; and 9,863 in 2006, about 65 percent of 15,201. This year’s count is 945 ballots above 2006’s, while the rolls have grown by 1,883 voters.
No statewide comparison exists yet. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has said it will release no more statewide turnout figures until results are certified.
Election 2026
More ballots, smaller share
Marblehead cast more midterm ballots than in any year since 2018, but the voter rolls grew faster. Turnout is the lowest share in at least 20 years, unless Friday’s mail closes the gap.
Show the numbers
| Midterm | Ballots | Registered | Turnout |
|---|
Turnout is ballots cast as a percent of registered voters. 2026 figures are unofficial, from the town clerk’s office, and do not yet include mail ballots due by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. The 2006 figure is approximate. Graphic: The Marblehead Independent
Nearly a third voted before Tuesday
By 7 a.m. Nov. 3, 5,283 Marblehead voters had already voted, or 30.9 percent of 17,084 registered voters, according to the Secretary’s office: 3,395 by mail and 1,888 in person before early voting ended at noon Friday, Oct. 30, at Abbot Hall, 188 Washington St. Statewide, 1.2 million of 5.2 million registered voters, or 22.3 percent, had voted by then.
Other towns closed in. When the Secretary’s office counted 4,657 Marblehead voters, or 27.3 percent of 17,084, the town ranked 37th among the state’s 351 cities and towns and 15th among the 163 with at least 10,000 registered voters. By Tuesday morning it had slipped to 58th and 28th.
On election night the clerk’s office counted 6,616 ballots cast at the polls and 4,192 early and mail ballots. The second figure is 1,091 fewer than the 5,283 the Secretary’s office reported as returned.
Where the ballots went blank
Marblehead’s ballot carried 12 offices and 10 questions. Before Election Day the Secretary’s office warned that ballots would run two to four pages statewide and that reconciling mail ballots returned with missing pages could push results later into the night.
Voters finished the top of the ballot and left much of the bottom empty. Only 93 left the governor’s race blank. In each of the five unopposed races, for Governor’s Council, state Senate, state representative, district attorney and register of probate, 3,086 to 3,422 ballots were blank, or 28.6 to 31.7 percent of 10,808. Question 10, the nonbinding carbon-fee question, drew 1,538 blanks. Questions 1 through 9 drew 203 to 512 each.
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