voter registration

Want to Vote in Mass. This Year, But Need to Register? Saturday's the Deadline!

If you intend to vote in Massachusetts in the Nov. 3 general election, you have less than 24 hours to register to do so

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Early voting is well underway at polling locations in Massachusetts, with record numbers of people casting their ballots so far.

But if you intend to vote on Nov. 3 and you're not yet registered, you have less than 24 hours to do so. Saturday is the deadline.

You can register to vote by going to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's website. You just need a state ID, though you also have to be a U.S. citizen who is at least 16 years old and is not currently incarcerated.

You have up until 11:59 p.m. to register online, or up until 8 p.m. to register in person. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by Saturday.

Click here for full instructions

More than 2.1 million people in Massachusetts have either voted early or chosen to vote by mail, Secretary of State Bill Weld said Friday. More than 1.4 million have already returned their ballots.

Today is the final day to register to vote in the upcoming election in Massachusetts.

That means the number of ballots cast 10 days before the election is about 42.6% percent of all ballots cast overall in the commonwealth during the 2016 presidential election.

“It’s a relief, honestly, it’s like ripping the bandaid, I’m just ready for the results to come out, and see what we have to do for the next four years,” said Sarah Ribeiro, who voted early.

“Well, I decided to do early voting because on November third it’s just going to be wild and crazy,” said early voter Saudia Akbar. “So I figured I’d get over here and try to do it as soon as possible.”

But Alex Psilakis of the non-partisan, nonprofit MassVOTE, which tries to boost voter turnout, said that while turnout in the suburbs is high, more urban communities are seeing lower early voter turnout. That’s something they’re trying to change.

"If you look at the numbers, you realize the turnout is kind of skewed," Psilakis said. "The suburban communities are seeing really really high turnout, while urban communities like Boston, Worcester and Brockton are seeing much lower turnout."

MassVOTE says it believes we’re seeing record numbers of voting not only because of the competitive races, like the presidential election, but because voting has been made easier than ever before.

Saturday, Oct. 24 marks the last day to register to vote in Massachusetts for the presidential election on Nov. 3. According to the secretary of state, more than 2.1 million people have requested to vote by mail or have already voted via early voting, which continues until Oct. 30.
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