2020 Election Results: Major Melrose Voter Turnout

MELROSE, MA — A massive voter turnout resulted in the city narrowly rejecting ranked-choice voting but breaking big for Democrats in major races.

Melrose had 17,815 of 21,082 voters cast ballots, according to unofficial results released late Tuesday night. That's an 84.5 percent turnout — a number that could slightly increase if mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 come in by Nov. 6.

Seventy-two percent of voters cast ballots for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the former vice president who won Massachusetts as soon as polls closed but whose 2020 prospects were still up in the air Wednesday morning.

President Trump got a quarter of the vote.

Voters went equally heavy for U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, of Malden, and hometown U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark.

"Thank you to the voters of the Fifth District for sending me back to Congress!" Clark said in a statement. "It is the honor of a lifetime to represent you and to work alongside you to build a stronger, more inclusive America."

The biggest landslide of all was Question 1's "Right to Repair" expansion, which got approved 12,978-3,975 in Melrose.

Voters went against Question 2's ranked-choice voting initiative, 8,579-8,263. The referendum on ranked-choice voting was the last major race called in Massachusetts, ultimately failing.

Ward Hamilton was elected Melrose's representative on the Northeast Metro Tech School Committee with 70 percent of the vote. His opponent, Andrew White, got 3,312 votes despite telling Patch he was withdrawing and being taken off the city voter rolls after being found to not live where he claimed.

See full unofficial results below.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for more free local alerts and newsletters.