Malden 2022 Voting Guide: Candidates, Where To Vote

MALDEN, MA — Election Day is here in 2022 as voters who haven’t already voted by mail or through early voting get set to head to the polls for this year’s state elections.

While the majority of statewide races haven’t been tightly contested this year, Malden voters do still have important races and questions on their ballots.

Before you head to the polls on Tuesday (or to a ballot drop box), here's a cheat sheet on all the local items you'll be voting on, plus tips on where and when to vote.

Where, When To Vote

Polls in Massachusetts will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 8. Find out where to vote here, and find out if you're registered to vote here.

If you're voting by mail, you can drop off your ballot at the clerk's office and in any ballot drop box — but not at polling locations. You can also mail your ballot on Election Day, but it won't be counted if it arrives after Nov. 11. Your best bet is the drop box or handing it off in-person.

Key Races

Patch has put together a guide for statewide races which you can read here. The following are the key contested races that will be on the ballot for Malden:

Lewis (i) vs Dombroski - State Senate, 5th Middlesex District

Local voters will help decide a two-way race for state senate between Democratic Sen. Jason Lewis and Republican Ed Dombroski.

Lewis, an incumbent, has served in the senate since 2014. Dombroski is a Wakefield Town Councilor and a family law attorney looking to unseat Lewis.

The two have sparred throughout their campaigns this year, debating at an event in Wakefield last month. Their campaigns have touched on topics ranging from transparency, to school funding, to inflation.

Clark (i) vs Colarusso - Congress, 5th Congressional District

Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Katherine Clark is facing a challenge from Republican Caroline Colarusso.

Clark has served in the House of Representatives since 2013.

Colarusso is a former member of the Stoneham Board of Selectmen, now known as the Select Board. She ran against Clark in 2020, mounting another campaign to unseat Clark this year.

Ballot Question 5 - Health Care (Non-binding)

Most Malden voters will see a fifth question on their ballots listed after statewide ballot questions, depending on their state representative district.

This question asks voters whether they wish to instruct their state representative to vote for legislation to create a single payer universal health care system for Massachusetts.

The question is on Malden ballots as part of a statewide push by the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care, which has non-binding single payer health care questions on ballots in 20 state legislature districts across Massachusetts this year.

Ballot Question 6 - Public Legislator Votes (Non-binding)

A sixth and final ballot question on most Malden ballots will ask voters to weigh in on possible changes to House of Representative rules to make state legislators' votes in committees publicly available on the legislature's website.

Committee votes, which are currently largely private, have prompted some debate, with some advocates arguing that open votes would improve transparency. This local ballot question in Malden, like question 5, is part of a larger series of questions across several Massachusetts communities, as reported by WBUR.

A "yes" vote on Malden's non-binding sixth ballot question will ask applicable legislators to vote in favor of changes to House of Representatives rules to make legislator committee votes public.