Vineyard voters turned out in large numbers to cast ballots Tuesday, forming lines all day at the polls in most towns. Polls closed at 8 p.m.

There are no contested seats this year on the MVC, with nine incumbents running for nine seats. Founded in 1974, the commission is a unique regional planning agency.

Eight candidates, including six incumbents, are running for seven seats on the Dukes County Commission this year. In advance of the election, the Gazette emailed questions to all the candidates.

Vineyard voters will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in the much-anticipated mid-term election. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in every Island town.

A friend of mine is the mother of a transgender son who lives on the Island.

I am the chief nurse executive at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and will be voting no on ballot question 1.

One reason I am voting yes on Question 1 is my memory of hours spent with my mother, my wife, my children, and other loved ones in hospitals hearing the incessant din of alarms, and even occasional cries and groans of distress.

The evil acts perpetrated over the last week once again demonstrate that our country still suffers from episodes of real division, hatred and unabashed racism.

This fall I canvassed on behalf of Congressional candidates running in challenging contests in Maine, New Hampshire and New York.