By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
Two local election-related decisions that could affect how residents cast ballots and how candidates win office are moving forward ahead of North Attleborough’s April 7 Town Election.
At its Feb. 9 meeting, the Town Council unanimously approved a request to opt out of mail-in voting for the local contest. The council also voted to send a proposed charter amendment for write-in candidate requirements to the Bylaw Subcommittee for further review. While the proposals address different parts of the election process both were prompted by concerns from local election officials.
Mail-in ballots
By a 6-0 vote, councilors granted the Elections Commission’s request to opt out of offering “no-excuse” mail-in ballots for the upcoming April election.
Elections Commission Chair Neil Lambert explained that mail-in voting was made permanent under the 2022 VOTES Act, but municipalities may opt out for local elections. While voters have embraced the option, Lambert said administering it for a town election presents logistical and timing challenges.
“The process of voting by mail is very labor-intensive,” said Lambert.
Ballots cannot be ordered until about 32 days before the election, after the early March candidate withdrawal deadline, leaving a narrow window for printing, delivery and distribution. In a recent Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical School District election, Lambert said, mail-in ballots were not received until roughly 10 days before Election Day.
Once ballots arrive, between 12 and 20 poll workers are scheduled over several days to assemble voting packets, apply postage and prepare them for mailing. Each application must be date-stamped and logged into the town’s election system, and returned ballots go through another manual intake process before being stored for tabulation.
Processing typically takes place the weekend before the election, when teams open envelopes, check each voter against the rolls and feed the ballots into tabulators one precinct at a time.
“It’s a very compressed time frame for a town election,” said Lambert, adding that the commission believes the workload and cost are not justified given the comparatively low turnout typical of local races.
Councilor John Simmons noted the town has opted out of mail-in voting in past local elections and emphasized that absentee ballots will remain available for residents who qualify.
“This will not hinder your ability to obtain an absentee ballot,” said Simmons. “For those who are unable to get out because of illness or who are away, you can still vote and get an absentee ballot.”
Charter amendment for write-in voting
Councilors also considered a proposed Town Charter amendment that would establish a minimum vote threshold for write-in candidates. Charter Review Committee Chair John Donahue said the issue surfaced during last year’s town election, when a large number of write-in candidates significantly delayed final results.
“They had the vote for the Town Council within 45 minutes of the election being closed,” Donahue said. “But it took them another three days to count every single write-in ballot.”
In some cases, candidates were elected with as few as four or five votes, he said.
“If you’re running for an office, you have to go out and get 25 signatures of town residents eligible to vote,” Donahue said. “It’s not fair to the people who do the right thing … yet we’re going to allow someone to serve on one of our boards who only gets four votes.”
The proposed amendment would require a write-in candidate to receive at least the same number of votes as the signature requirement for that office to be elected. This is typically 25 votes for many local offices. This would establish a baseline level of community support and reduce the administrative burden of tallying large volumes of write-in votes.
Town Manager Michael Borg said the town is awaiting feedback from KP Law, but believes the proposal could be considered a significant charter change, particularly if it affects Town Council races.
Councilor Dan Donovan outlined potential next steps, saying the town could pursue a home rule petition through the Legislature or place the question before voters. With a March 3 deadline to submit ballot questions for the April election, he said there is a limited window to act if councilors want the issue considered this spring.
Councilors voted 5-1 to refer the proposed amendment to the Bylaw Subcommittee for further review before it returns to the council at its Feb. 23 meeting.
Four offices will appear on the April ballot: one seat on the Board of Electric Commissioners, one seat on the Board of Public Works, one seat on the Park Commission and two seats on the School Committee. All positions carry three-year terms.