Somerville Securing Ballot Boxes Against Halloween Pranks

SOMERVILLE, MA — The city is locking its ballot drop boxes to protect against pranks Halloween night. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin issued an "urgent election directive" after a ballot box was set ablaze in Boston on Sunday.

Somerville will lock its ballot drop boxes at 5 p.m. on Halloween and reopen them at 10 a.m. the following morning. Ballot drop boxes will then remain open until polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the Elections Department urges residents to submit their ballots as soon as possible to avoid processing delays.

Somerville's 10 ballot drop boxes are made from 160 pounds of galvanized steel and anchored to concrete. The boxes are installed in sites that are under video surveillance and/or are highly visible, and ballots are collected daily.

Drop boxes are located at:

• Concourse at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave.
• In front of the Argenziano School, 290 Washington St.
• Outside of the West Somerville Neighborhood School, 177 Powderhouse Blvd.
• At the entrance to the Winter Hill Community School, 115 Sycamore St.
• At the Glen Street entrance to the East Somerville Community School, across from 66 Glen St.
• Near Fire Engine 7, 269 Highland Ave.
• In front of the Tufts Administrative Building, 167 Holland St.
• In front of The Somerville Community Baptist Church, 31 College Ave.
• Near 351 Summer St. in front of the Dilboy Post
• Near 182 Summer St. in front of St. Catherine of Genoa Parish's parking lot (near the corner of Spring Street)

A Boston man was arrested late Sunday night after authorities said he set fire to a Copley Square ballot box earlier that morning. The fire destroyed 35 of the 122 ballots inside, prompting Galvin to tell local officials to improve security around ballot boxes.

"What happened in the early hours of this morning to the ballot drop box in Copley Square is a disgrace to democracy, a disrespect to the voters fulfilling their civic duty, and a crime," Galvin and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a joint statement. "Our first and foremost priority is maintaining the integrity of our elections process and ensuring transparency and trust with our voters, and any effort to undermine or tamper with that process must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We ask voters not to be intimidated by this bad act, and remain committed to making their voices heard in this and every election."