Wilmington to Merge Municipal Election with Senate Primary

In a rare move, the Board of Selectmen has accepted a recommendation by the Town Clerk to change the date of the annual Municipal Election.

At its meeting Monday night, the board voted, 3-0, to switch the Municipal Election from Saturday, April 27 to Tuesday, April 30. Board Chairman Mike Newhouse and Selectman Louis Cimaglia abstained, as they are candidates in the election.

By shifting to April 30, Wilmington will merge its Municipal Election with the Primary Election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated when John Kerry was sworn in as Sec. of State. On Feb. 1, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a piece of special legislation allowing Massachusetts communities with spring municipal elections with the Senate Primary as a cost-saving measure.

Town Clerk Sharon George said while the move will save the town $6,740, there was a more important reason she recommended the shift.

"The No. 1 reason was voter convenience," said George. "This way the voters only have to (come the polls) once, instead of having to come out twice in three days."

George said that while the elections will be merged, they will still be run as separate elections. Voters will receive two ballots, one for the town election and the other for the primary.

There is a also a change associated with the Annual Town Meeting. It will still be held on the first Saturday of May (May 4, 10:30 a.m.), it will now be held in the auditorium at the Wilmington Middle School. The Wilmington High gym, where Town Meeting had been held in years past, was razed this past week as part of the new high school construction project.