MA Primary Election Sees Record Voter Turnout

BOSTON, MA — Tuesday's primary election saw record-breaking voter turnout, which voting rights groups say is the result of a robust early voting and vote-by-mail system. More than 1.5 million ballots were cast, 1 million of which were sent by mail or dropped off at city and town halls.

According to nonprofit Common Cause Massachusetts, there were 1,122,159 votes cast in the 1984 primary election. That's the only time in the last 70 years that more than 1 million votes were cast in the September primary of a presidential election year.

This year's numbers broke that threshold and marked participation rates three to four times higher than in 2016, the organization said.

"Expanded mail voting helped over a million Bay Staters have their voices heard in yesterday's election, from the safety of their own homes," Kristina Mensik, assistant director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said Wednesday. "It also has deepened political participation by engaging voters in down-ballot races that too often see low participation – between 8.84 and 12 percent in similar primaries. It's clear to us that – as the Secretary of the Commonwealth has also said – vote by mail and early voting for primaries must be here to stay.”

Legislation to expand early voting expires Dec. 31 and only applies to the primary and the upcoming general election. Advocates say Tuesday's outcome is proof the system should stay.

But the primary was not without its issues, which officials warn could be exacerbated in the presidential election. The Democratic race to replace Joseph Kennedy III in the 4th Congressional District – a position Kennedy gave up in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Ed Markey – was not called until Friday morning. The influx of mail-in ballots forced the state to get a court order to extend the count past Election Day.

Secretary of State William Galvin deemed expanded vote-by-mail a success but told reporters Wednesday he expects the Nov. 3 election to be more challenging, as voter turnout could double that of the primary. The US Postal Service has cautioned that it cannot ensure all mail-in ballots cast in the Nov. 3 election in Massachusetts and 46 other states will arrive in time to be counted.

More than 500,000 ballots were rejected in primary elections across the country, the Washington Post reported last month. It is not yet known how many mail-in ballots in Massachusetts were turned away because of mistakes or because they were received after the deadline.