Several high-profile races for statewide office and a battle between two law enforcement veterans for Dukes County sheriff has spurred activity ahead of the Sept. 6 primary election, with lawn signs emerging like spring daffodils across the Island.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. The deadline for voter registration was August 27.

Early voting began in all Island towns on Monday, August 29, and town clerks reported voters were trickling in over the week. In West Tisbury, town clerk Tara Whiting-Wells estimated that at least five people had participated in early, in-person voting each day.

In Edgartown, eight people voted in person on Wednesday, said town clerk Karen Medeiros. On Thursday morning, the polling area in Edgartown town hall was empty save a lone election official.

“It’s still a primary, so it is quiet,” said Mrs. Whiting-Wells.

Turnout in non-presidential primaries has varied widely on Martha’s Vineyard, from just 17 percent in 2014 to 33 percent for the last statewide primary election in 2018.

In Dukes County, the Democratic Party ballot includes six contested races: for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and sheriff. The Republican Party ballot has five contested races: for governor, lieutenant governor, representative in Congress, state senator and district attorney.

All seven seats on the Dukes County Commission are up for grabs, but only three candidates — Donald R. Leopold of Chilmark, Christine C. Todd of Oak Bluffs, and Richard G. Wharton of Oak Bluffs, all Democrats – completed paperwork to appear on the primary ballot. Tristan Israel of Vineyard Haven has announced a write-in campaign.

Congressman Bill Keating, state Sen. Julian Cyr and state Rep. Dylan Fernandes all appear on the Democratic ballot without opposition in the primary. Two Republicans, Jesse G. Brown and Dan Sullivan, both of Plymouth, are seeking the GOP nomination for Keating’s seat. Republicans Daralyn Andrea Hewyood and Christopher Robert Lauzon, both of Barnstable, are vying for the nomination for state Senate. There are no Republican candidates for Rep. Fernandes’ seat.

On the Island, much of the attention – and most of the lawn signs – have centered on the sheriff’s race, in which incumbent Robert Ogden is facing a challenge from former Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake. Both are Democrats and both live in West Tisbury. With no Republican on the ballot, the winner of the Democratic primary will be the presumed victor in November.

At an August 30 forum held by the League of Women Voters, Sheriff Ogden focused on his accomplishments in the six years since his election in 2016, while Chief Blake pledged to increase the visibility and accountability of the office. 

The retirement of longtime Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, who has held the job for almost 20 years, has attracted four candidates. Assistant district attorney Robert Galibois, of Barnstable, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, but there are three contenders on the Republican ballot. Melissa Alden, a former Yarmouth police officer and current family law attorney based in Barnstable, is running against John “Jack” Carey of Sandwich, a lawyer and retired Navy captain, and Daniel Higgins of Barnstable, also an assistant district attorney.

In interviews with the Gazette, all four candidates criticized poor communication between the district attorney’s head office on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard, and pledged to increase the office’s presence on the Island.

At the top of the Democratic ballot, attorney general Maura Healey appears on the ballot along with Sonia Rosa Chang-Diaz, a state senator from Boston, for nomination as governor, though Ms. Chang Diaz has dropped out of the race. On the Republican ballot, former state Rep. Geoff Diehl of Whitman is facing Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty for the GOP nomination. Gov. Charlie Baker is not seeking re-election.

The race to replace retiring Lieutenant Gov. Karyn Polito has Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, state Rep. Tami Gouveia of Acton and state Sen. Eric P. Lesser of Longmeadow vying for the Democratic nomination. On the Republican ballot, two state representatives, Leah V. Allen of Danvers, and Kate Campanale of Spencer, are opposed.

Three candidates appear on the Democratic ballot for attorney general, though one has since dropped out of the race. Andrea Joy Campbell of Boston, a former Boston city councillor, is facing Shannon Erika Liss-Riordan of Brookline, a labor lawyer. Quentin Palfrey, of Weston, quit the race on August 30 and endorsed Ms. Campbell.

Secretary of State William Galvin, who has held the office since 1994, is facing a challenge on the Democratic ballot from Tanisha Sullivan, a civil rights attorney and president of the Boston NAACP.

Two Democrats are seeking the nomination for state auditor: Christopher Dempsey of Brookline and state Sen. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen