PAXTON — Voters will have mail-in and early in-person options come time for the town election in 2023.
But the Select Board is holding off on deciding what will happen in 2024, since the impact of multiple state and presidential elections could have fiscal impacts.
Town Clerk Laurie Becker told the Select Board Dec. 27 that the new state law requires towns to have early vote-by-mail options unless the board votes to eliminate that option. But the Select Board would have to also hold a public hearing to get input.
Registrars voted 3-to-1 to support the vote-by-mail option, Becker said.
“Overall, it’s become very popular,” Becker said of the mail-in voting option.
“I think the reason (the Board of Registrars) voted in favor was they want to encourage voting,” she added.
She said personally she has concerns about the costs, not so much for 2023, when there will only be a town election, but for the following year with multiple elections.
With the state sending out postcards on which people can check a box and return to get ballots for all elections, from the presidential primaries to general election, she said there may be hundreds or thousands who request it.
The positive side, she said, is that “more people are going to vote,” but she added that “there is a monetary cost to consider.”
Besides having to order enough ballots, there is postage to pay.
“I don’t see it as a huge issue for 2023,” Becker said, but 2024 could be more costly if more of the town’s roughly 3,500 registered voters take advantage.
In 2021, 10 people voted by mail, when the absentee rules were in place, she said, plus only 160 people voted in the town election.
Mail-in voting that did not require limited reasons outlined under the absentee rules to vote by mail was in place by 2022, when 22 people voted by mail.
She added that if the town does it one year, people may expect it every year.
Although she said she would support mail-in for the coming year, Chairman Julia Pingitore said she “would like to see what the numbers look like for next year before we have to vote on it again.” Those numbers would include participation levels from the town election.
“There is not enough information to make an informed decision,” Select Board member Kirk Huehls said, opting to support it for 2023 before the entire board voted for it.
Early in-person voting was “tricky,” Becker said, noting the Board of Registrars split 2-2 on the issue, sending the decision to the Select Board.
Although some sought to encourage voting, some looked at the low use of the option, which requires more staffing and office hours.
Becker said the registrars discussed it and, “because it wasn’t terribly popular,” recommended two days of early voting in-person.
Becker recommended in-person early voting be offered April 24 from noon to 2 p.m. as well as April 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a day state law requires the town clerk’s office to be open anyway for voter registration.
Huehls said he saw the benefit for people who would likely use it, such as senior citizens, to coordinate rides or have someone assist them, when they otherwise would not want to go to the school and stand in line.
“There were some people who appreciated early voting because of physical disabilities,” Becker said.
The Select Board approved the early voting those two days.
In addition, Becker said the program Democracy Lives can help people who need assistance to vote in their homes. Huehls suggested making sure the Council on Aging had information it could provide to those who needed the option.
State requirements for in-person early voting would still apply in 2024 — and cover some costs — for the state elections.
