Want to vote by mail? Voting applications due by 5 p.m.
Massachusetts voters hoping to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 election have until 5 p.m. on Oct. 27 to make sure their application arrives at their local elections department.
The governor, attorney-general, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, entire Massachusetts state Legislature and Bristol County District Attorney will be on the ballot, as well as nine referendum ballot questions, including on topics such as housing and election reform.
By state law, applications for mail-in ballots must be in the hands of local election officials by 5 p.m. the fifth business day before the election, or Tuesday, Oct. 27.
That means there's only enough time for voters to physically drop off their applications with the Fall River Elections Department at Government Center, either in its sixth floor office or in the drop box outside the building's Third Street entrance.
The city's chief elections official, Ryan Lyons, said he's been sending applications to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office as he receives them.
"I'm going to run the last batch tomorrow after the deadline, so I would imagine, probably, everything will go out on Wednesday morning," he said on Monday, Oct. 26.
He estimated that would get last-minute applicants their mail-in ballots by Friday.
How do you vote by mail?
Mail-in ballots can be mailed back using the provided envelope, hand-delivered to a local election office like Lyons', dropped off at an in-person early voting location, or placed in a ballot drop box by close of polls on Election Day, according to the Secretary of State's website .
They cannot be returned to an in-person polling place on Election Day.
Lyons encouraged voters still receiving their mail-in ballots to bring them to his office, as mailing them in could take too long.
To be counted, all mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received within three days of Election Day, according to the Secretary of State's website.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Want to vote by mail? Voting applications due by 5 p.m.
