Polling stations in all six Island towns will be open for in-person voting on Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Polling stations follow:
• Tisbury, Emergency Services Facility, 215 Spring Street.
• Edgartown, Edgartown Town Hall, 70 Main Street.
• Oak Bluffs, Oak Bluffs Library.
• West Tisbury, Public Safety Building, in the apparatus bay.
• Chilmark, Chilmark Community Center, 520 South Road.
• Aquinnah, Gay Head Town Hall, State Road.
All voters are required to adhere to pandemic safety regulations. Masks and social distancing are mandatory. The number of voters allowed indoors at one time will be limited. Hand sanitizer will be available for public use.
Town clerks ask that voters consider their responses to the proposed ballot questions before arriving at the polling station, to keep lines moving and avoid overcrowding on election day.
Some clerks also suggest arriving with a form of identification indicating town residency, in the event that poll workers need to verify an address. No campaign materials will be allowed inside polling places. In Edgartown, this includes hats, shirts, masks and other campaign paraphernalia.
In Tisbury, Katherine Kavanagh is providing free rides to the polls for voters who need it, outside of school transportation hours. Information is posted on the Tisbury town website.
For those voting by mail, ballots must be mailed through the United States Postal Service, postmarked by election day, Nov. 3, and received by Nov. 6, according to Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin. Ballots received by 8 p.m. on election day do not require a postmark.
Voters who requested mail-in ballots, but choose not to mail them, may vote in person on election day, clerks said. If a mailed ballot does not reach a local hall by election day, voters may still vote in person at their local polling places, according to the state.
Ballot tracking is available online through the voting information page on town websites.
Mail-in ballots may also be hand-delivered directly to town clerks, or — new this year — dropped off at town-designated drop boxes. All ballots must be delivered by 8 p.m. on election day.
Drop-off times and locations follow:
• Edgartown, town hall lobby. Voters may drop off ballots during business hours (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), or by the end of election day. Ballots may also be hand-delivered to the clerk’s office during business hours.
• Oak Bluffs, library entrance, 56R School Street.
• West Tisbury, town hall lobby (doors are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) In-person absentee voting is also available until noon on Monday, Nov. 2, by appointment.
• Aquinnah, main entry to the town hall, 955 State Road. Ballots may also be delivered to the town clerk directly during business hours.
• Chilmark, two ballot drop boxes, main entrance to town hall, 401 Middle Road. Ballots must be dropped off by 8 p.m. on election day.
• Tisbury, no ballot drop box, but ballots may be hand-delivered to town hall through the service window inside the lobby. Ballots must be delivered by election day.
Massachusetts ballots received by mail contain two envelopes — one yellow and one white — both must be sent back for the ballot to counted.
After filling out the ballot, according to the included instructions, voters should first place their ballots in the yellow envelope, signing their names and the address where they are registered on the envelope exterior. Voters should then place the yellow ballot envelope into the white return envelope to be sent back. No postage is required to return a ballot by mail.
Detailed instructions for mail-in voting are available at: https://www.oakbluffsma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5153/Instructions-for-Vote-By-Mail-2020
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