WESTFIELD – The City Hall Ballot Drop Box will be locked at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and reopen on Sunday, Nov 1 at 9 a.m., per Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin. City Clerk Karen M. Fanion said there will be a note on the drop box as to why it is closed and locked.
Vote by mail ballots must be deposited in the drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3 in order to be counted.
Vote-by-mail ballots sent through the Post Office must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received in the Clerk’s office by Nov. 6 in order to be counted.
In-person early voting hours ended on Friday, Oct. 30. Fanion said that as of Thursday evening, 3,400 residents had participated in early voting at City Hall. Also as of Thursday evening, 6,500 vote-by-mail ballots had been received out of 10,000 the city had mailed out.
Between early voting and vote-by-mail, the city had received more than 50 percent of the total of 19,300 ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election as of Thursday evening.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, all of the regular polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., except for the Senior Center. Voters in Wards 2A and 2B will instead vote at the Westfield Middle School located at 30 West Silver Street. There is no school on Election Day in Westfield.
Pollings locations for all the Wards:
Ward 1A – Southampton Road Elementary School, 330 Southampton Road
Ward 1B – Westfield HIgh School, 177 Montgomery Road
Wards 2A and 2B – Westfield Middle School, 30 West Silver Street
Ward 3A – Franklin Avenue Elementary School, 22 Franklin Avenue
Ward 3B – Westfield Technical Academy (Lower Campus), 33 Smith Avenue
Ward 4A – Second Congregational Church, 487 Western Avenue
Ward 4B – Highland Valley Elementary School, 34 Western Avenue
Wards 5A and 5B – Munger HIll Elementary School, 33 Mallard Lane
Wards 6A and 6B – Paper Mill Elementary School, 148 Paper Mill Road
On Election Day, votes are asked to practice social distancing and maintain 6 feet apart while waiting in line Please follow the arrows and guides on the floor
Consider bringing your own pencil to use or, a one-time use pencil will be provided to every voter to keep.Please consider wearing a mask for the protection of yourself and others
If anyone is unsure of which Ward/Precinct they live in, they may check at www.cityofwestfield.org under City Clerk/Elections, Where do I vote?
City Clerk Karen M. Fanion said the city has added extra volunteers for the day of the election due to an expected record turnout nationally, and each polling location is staffed by a police officer, as is standard practice. “We’ve had a lot of people vote already. They’re expecting a rise in the voter turnout,” she said.
