(previous)
Mullen says interest in this year’s election has been high. He already has several containers of absentee ballots that have been mailed back to town hall. Ballots have come from Ireland, Germany and other parts of the world.
Election workers met with the town clerk Oct. 27 to go over the procedures.
Mullen expects the election will go smoothly.
“But it’s a lot of work,” he said.
There are six pairs listed on the ballot as
running for President and Vice President. Republican John McCain and Sarah Pallin are there.
Democrat Barack Obama and Joe Biden are on
the bottom of the list. Only last names are listed.
The other tickets include: Green-Rainbow McKinney
and Clemente, Libertarian Barr and Root, Constitution Baldwin and Castle and Independent Nader and Gonzalez.
There are a few other races on the ballot. Sen. John Kerry faces two opponents in his bid for re-election. The Republican is Jeffrey Beatty and the Libertarian is Robert Underwood.
There are six separate slots for Blue Hills Regional School Committee including one that has no name printed. The Milton representative to the regional school committee, Festus Joyce, has no opposition.
Every voter in the district can cast a vote in each of the six regional school committee races.
In Randolph, the incumbent, Richard Riman, is facing a challenge from Richard Donlon. Riman owns the Frame Man in Randolph. In Braintree two candidates, Eric Erskine and Robert Kimball, are seeking one vacancy.
The two incumbent county commissioners, John Gillis and Francis O’Brien, are facing opposition from Independent Michael Walsh and Republican Thomas Gorman.
The rest of the ballot is uncontested. Rep. Walter Timilty will be on the ballots in precincts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Rep. Angelo Scaccia is running in precinct 11. Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry is running in precincts 1 and 3.
Sen. Brian Joyce and Congressman Stephen Lynch are both unopposed.
There are three ballot questions – taxes, marijuana and dogs.
Question 1 calls for a rollback and eventual repeal of the state income tax. Question 2 would make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil violation rather than a crime. Question 3 would prohibit dog racing in the state.
The town clerk expects results of the election will be known within a few hours after the polls close.
He has a piece of advice for people who may be registered in other communities. He says that the state system now allows election officials to check voter registration status statewide.
“With their date of birth, we can tell them where they are registered,” he said.
If someone not included in the active voter list arrives at the polling place, they can be allowed a provisional ballot. The elections officials have 10 days after the vote to investigate the claim. If they determine the voter was legally registered in another city or town, the ballot will be discarded.
“If they want their vote counted, they should vote where they are registered,” Mullen said.
He said if they have moved to town recently, they should register for the next election.