Politics

Here are the Massachusetts cities and towns with the highest voting turnouts so far

The state has already cast two-thirds as many ballots as 2016.

The scene on Congress Street in Boston as voters wait in line Friday on the last day of early voting at City Hall Plaza.. Stan Grossfeld / The Boston Globe

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa

October 31, 2020

Close to half of registered voters in Massachusetts have already cast their ballots through in this year’s election, taking advantage of the state’s expanded early and mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to data released by Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office as in-person early voting was wrapping up Friday afternoon, more than 2.2 million people in Massachusetts have already returned their ballots, which is nearly two thirds of the turnout during the 2016 election.

So far, the figure accounts for 46.5 percent of all registered Massachusetts voters this year. But in some cities and towns, the turnout has been much higher.

Leading the way is the small Cape Cod town of Eastham, where more than 72 percent of registered voters have already cast their ballots, followed by the Boston suburbs of Lexington, Sudbury, Concord, and Carlisle.

So far, 51 communities in Massachusetts have already recorded at least 60 percent turnout.

In the city of Boston, nearly 152,000 people — or more than 35 percent of registered voters — have submitted ballots.

Galvin’s office also notes the data released Friday isn’t a complete accounting of all the early voting; it doesn’t include in-person voting after 4 p.m. Friday, not all communities have reported their Friday totals, and local election officials continue to receive mail-in ballots Saturday.

In other words, turnout is actually slightly higher than the latest numbers.

Under Massachusetts state law, local officials will not actually begin counting any ballots until after 8 p.m. on election night Tuesday. But here’s an approximate community-by-community look at how many ballots have at least been submitted.