75% Of Melrose Voters Used Early Or Mail-In Voting

MELROSE, MA — Nearly 75 percent of local voters who cast ballots in the state primary took advantage of either early or mail-in voting, according to unofficial results Wednesday.

Overall, 51 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, a rousing success in what was in many ways a new-look election.

Of the 10,507 who voted in Melrose, 7,819 did so either early at Memorial Hall or via mail-in voting. Only 2,688 went to the middle school on Election Day for the more traditional in-person option.

No-excuse mail-in voting and early voting were new to a state primary. Even taking the current political climate into account, it appears the options significantly boosted voter turnout. The 2018 state primary saw only 5,759 turn out.

Read: Mail-In Voting Increases Turnout Across Several Communities

Election workers were happy with how in-person voting at the middle school went, generating optimism for what is expected to be a larger turnout for the general election. This was the first election where all polling locations were consolidated into one due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the change will continue for the the November election.

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