Massachusetts voters cast 1.17 million ballots before Tuesday polls open

In Massachusetts, 1,168,590 residents had already submitted their ballots by 7 a.m. on Tuesday. This figure represents 22.3% of the total votes cast in the state's upcoming elections. The count includes both early in-person voting and mail-in ballots processed before polls opened.

According to the office of Secretary of State William Galvin, 821,244 of those early ballots arrived by mail. That accounts for 70.3% of the total early count. The remaining 347,346 ballots, or 29.7%, were cast in person at designated polling locations.

A total of 242,125 mail ballots remained unreturned as of Tuesday morning. These votes can still be counted if the voter places the ballot in a drop box by 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Alternatively, the ballot must be postmarked by Tuesday and delivered to election officials by Friday, November 6.

Galvin noted a dramatic increase in early in-person voting compared to previous cycles. He stated that mail-in voting levels were about the same as they were in 2022. He attributed the shift to voters wanting time to review the nine ballot questions slowly.

In the 2022 midterm elections, early in-person voting made up 7.5% of all votes. That number rose to 17% in the 2024 election. This year's early in-person participation rate of 29.7% of total early votes exceeds both of those previous figures.

Small towns led in early participation rates. Gosnold, a town with roughly 90 voters, saw 43.5% of its electorate cast a ballot early. Eastham and Orleans followed with rates of 43.1% and 42.9%. Stow and Lincoln completed the top five with rates of 40.7% and 40.3%.

Among communities with at least 20,000 registered voters, Needham recorded the highest early turnout at 36.1%. Falmouth, Lexington, Arlington, and Melrose followed with rates of 35.6%, 35.5%, 34.5%, and 32.7%. Springfield had the lowest rate in this group at 8.3%, followed by Lawrence at 8.5% and New Bedford at 9.8%.