Massachusetts Voters Want Mail-In Voting To Stay: Patch Survey

MASSACHUSETTS — More than two thirds of respondents to a Patch survey believe mail-in voting was safe, reliable and free of fraud, and 63.4 percent said state and local officials should work to make it easier to vote by mail in future elections.

More than 1,400 people responded to the online survey between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. The survey is meant not to be a scientific poll but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

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Most respondents believe election results in Massachusetts were free of fraud, with 78.8 percent saying they either "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree" that 2020 election results in the Bay State were fair and accurate. Confidence dropped slightly when respondents were asked about the national election results, with 64.5 percent saying they strongly agree the results were fair and accurate and 6.7 percent saying they "somewhat agree."

Election officials in Massachusetts and across the U.S. expanded early voting and mail-in voting ahead of this year's primaries and elections. Despite the new rules, many survey respondents opted to vote in person this year. While 45.5 percent of respondents cast their ballots by mail or with an absentee ballot, 25.2 percent voted in-person on election day and 29 percent voted in-person during early voting times in their town.

Just seven, or 0.9 percent, of the 765 respondents who cast ballots in person said there were problems at the polls, such as long lines, malfunctioning equipment or inadequate staffing.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).