ATHOL – Town Clerk Nancy Burnham met with Athol’s Selectboard at its meeting Tuesday to remind board members and the public that early voting for the Nov. 5 general election begins this weekend.

“Beginning the Saturday, October 19,” said Burnham, “this is when early voting begins. We will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for anyone who wants to come in and vote in person. Early voting goes from October 19 through November 1, excluding Sundays. On all Saturdays we are open from 9 to 3. During the week, Monday through Thursday, people can vote during our regular business hours at the town hall. We are offering two Fridays; we’ll be open from 8 a.m. to noon for early voting.”

Burnham said residents can check the town website for dates and times. In addition, the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Saturday, Oct. 26. Applications to vote by mail must be received by the Town Clerk’s Office no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29. “And, of course,” Burnham added, “anyone who chooses to can certainly vote on Election Day, which is November 5 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

Due to the number of voters expected at the polls, Burnham said balloting will take place in both Memorial Hall, which is on the first floor at Town Hall, and in Liberty Hall, which is the basement. “Precincts 1 and 2 will be in Memorial Hall,” she said. “Precinct 3 will be downstairs, and we will have people there guiding you to the appropriate precinct.”

Burnham went to say, “We want to make sure when people come in to vote that they have a distraction-free election; that they’re coming in and able to vote with no problems. We just want to remind people that there is a state law that that does say ‘political materials for or against any candidate or ballot question’ that is on the ballot ‘is not allowed inside the polling location or within 150 feet of the polling location.’”

“What does this mean?” she continued. “It means that when you come to vote on Election Day please do not wear a T-shirt, a hat, a tie, a pin, a button – anything that has anything to do with a candidate or with a ballot question. That includes their names, their slogans — anything like that. We will be having people look for that. If you do come in with one, we will kindly ask you to, if it’s a hat, we’ll ask you to remove it, if it’s a T-shirt or sweatshirt, your jacket will have to be zipped up. We just want to get the word out there so that the election goes smoothly.”

Burnham told the Athol Daily News that her office has seen a steady flow of ballots since mail-in voting began a couple of weeks ago. If you voted by mail and wish to track your ballot, go to: www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/TrackMyBallot.

Nominees for president in 2024 include Kamal Harris/Tim Walz (Democrat); Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (Republican); Jill Stein/Gloria Caballero-Roca (Green); Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (Libertarian); Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation); and, Shiva Ayyadurai/Crystal Ellis (Independent). There are also races for the U.S. Senate and House, Governor’s Councilor, state senator, state representative, register of deeds, and clerk of court. Voters also will decide the fate of five ballot questions.