North Andover Voters Praise Town's Election Process

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — North Andover voters praised the town's conduct of the 2020 presidential election, in response to a callout from Patch.

Whether they voted by mail or in person, voters said that it was easy and quick, with no challenges. Town Clerk Trudy Reid agreed that it went smoothly, although it was a lot of work.

"Overall, as much as I thought it was all so overwhelming with all the mail-in ballots, the day itself went relatively well," Reid said.

Massachusetts expanded voting methods in 2020 in response to the coronavirus, allowing two weeks of early voting and giving all voters the option of voting by mail, without an excuse. New procedures were also put in place for in-person voting, including additional cleaning, to reduce the risk of the virus.

Voters using all three methods said they were convenient.

"I voted by Mail in Ballot early and dropped it in the Ballot Box at the Senior Center," said Marylou Salois. "Very convenient and safe for us high risk elderly voters."

"There was a small line to enter the high school gym, but it moved very quickly," said Cara Miller. "Everything was run smoothly, in accordance with social distancing, and sanitary. Well done, North Andover!"

"I voted early in person at the Senior Center. It was well organized, the whole process was explained to each of us, every step of the way," another reader wrote. "Additionally, it was very well run with lots of precautions for Covid. Also it was very quick — in and out! Thank you so much North Andover and Ms. Reid, the Town Clerk - we know that it took a lot of preparation on their part in order to be so easy for us, the voters!"

Reid said her office brought in extra help on Election Day to help count ballots, "which was a huge relief to my staff."

She had two complaints about changes the state made to election rules this year.

"In the past if a voter who submitted their ballot died before Election Day and we knew of it, we were not to process the ballot," Reid said. "This year — and not sure if it will continue — as long as the ballot was submitted before the death we are to count it."

The state legislature passed a temporary law in response to the coronavirus allowing mail-in votes cast by voters who died before Election Day to count.

Reid also complained about the deadline to request an absentee ballot: town clerks wanted a deadline seven days before the election, but the state set it at four days.

"We had people from the west coast sending in requests that last few days and we knew they would never get the ballot back to us, but we had to process the request," Reid said.

The town beat its 2016 turnout by over 1,500 votes, with more than 80 percent of registered voters casting ballots. North Andover voters backed Democrats up and down the ballot, pulling the lever for former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and state Rep. Tram Nguyen.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.