Despite some concerning talk in national news, local election supervisors are not especially concerned that voter intimidation or other forms of interference will play into next week’s election.
“I just don’t feel that we’re big enough potatoes,” said Montague Town Clerk Deb Bourbeau.
The town clerk is the chief municipal official in overseeing elections. The town clerks in Orange and Athol were similarly unconcerned.
“In the past, we haven’t had any problems, so I don’t foresee having problems,” Orange Town Clerk Nancy Blackmer said.
One of the key rules in holding an election, which towns sometimes specifically highlight at polling places, is to prevent “electioneering” or political campaigning at a polling site. Electioneering may comprise aggressive behavior, like harassing or intimidating voters, or more passive behavior, like wearing a campaign T-shirt. In Massachusetts law, it is illegal to campaign for a political candidate within 150 feet of a polling site.
In Athol, campaigning demonstrations have appeared regularly in recent weeks, Town Clerk Nancy Burnham said. But, when polls are open, the town typically makes a point of alerting people to rules on electioneering, she said.
There have been cases of electioneering during early voting, she said, but in all cases, people have cooperated when notified of the rules.
“We’ve had a few people who’ve come in with a candidate’s shirt on, or mask,” she said. “But we’ve asked them nicely to either remove them, cover them up, turn them inside out, and they haven’t had a problem with that.”
A police presence at voting sites is also required by state law.
Greenfield Police Chief Robert Haigh said that there hasn’t been any reason for extra concern with this election — but also noted, “This particular election has certainly been contentious for quite some time.”
The police presence isn’t only to prevent electioneering or violence, Haigh noted, but also to handle everyday issues that arise from an election, like potential traffic backups around the polling site.
Still, national and local concerns about safety and security during this election are part of the police department’s considerations this year, he said.
“We’re hopefully going to be prepared as much as humanly possible,” he said.
The only tangible difference in this year’s election so far has been an order regarding ballot drop-off boxes, issued by the Elections Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office.
In response to an incident in Boston last weekend where a man set a ballot box on fire, damaging some of the ballots inside, local election officials have been ordered to close their drop boxes after regular working hours.
Local towns and cities are affected by this order, even though there haven’t been any similar incidents in this area of the state.
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.