Acushnet will open sealed early ballots Oct. 30, ahead of the Nov. 3 election

ACUSHNET The Acushnet Board of Registrars will conduct an advance removal of voted early ballots for the Nov. 3 state election on Friday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. at the Parting Ways Building, 130 Main St., the town's early voting site. During the session, the sealed envelopes holding early voting ballots will be opened for the first time.

The registrars' notice, headed "NOTICE ADVANCE REMOVAL OF BALLOTS," cites the law directly: "Pursuant to The Votes Act, early voting ballots may be removed from their sealed envelopes in advance of Election Day."

The Votes Act is the state law that governs early and mail voting in Massachusetts. Its advance removal provision lets local election officials begin the envelope work before Election Day, so the ballots can move to the tabulator faster once the polls are open instead of crowding the opening into election night.

What happens to the ballots

The town's notice describes the handling step by step: "During this process, voted ballots will be removed from their sealed envelopes and placed in a secured container. The container will be delivered to the polling location on Election Day, where the ballots will be inserted into a tabulator and counted."

Opening the envelopes early does not mean counting early. No ballot is tabulated at the Oct. 30 session; under the town's stated sequence, the count happens at the polls on Nov. 3, when the secured container arrives. Each envelope stays sealed until the registrars open it at the announced session, and the ballots stay in the secured container until Election Day.

The session will be audio and video recorded "for educational and transparency purposes," the notice states.

Election Day

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Acushnet voters will decide the state and county races and the statewide ballot questions, alongside the local early and Election Day vote.

The Oct. 30 session falls on the final day of in-person early voting in Acushnet. Early voting opened Oct. 17 at the Parting Ways Building and runs through Oct. 30, so every ballot cast in person before the session comes from the same building where the registrars will open the envelopes.

The advance removal covers ballots already cast and sealed by Oct. 30. Early ballots returned after the session stay sealed until they are processed at the polls on Election Day.

The advance removal notice was submitted by Town Clerk Pamela A. Labonte on behalf of the Board of Registrars, the local body that administers elections and voter registration in town.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.