Braintree Getting Thousands Fewer Early Voters Than Expected

BRAINTREE, MA — Early voter turnout so far is much lower than he expected, Town Clerk James Casey said.

As of 1 p.m., Friday, 1,102 people had cast a vote, about 3.9 percent of all registered voters in Braintree. At this point during 2016 early voting, there were 2,533 people who voted, or 9.3 percent of eligible voters.

Low early turnout in a midterm election isn't completely unexpected, Casey said, but not like this.

“I was anticipating 5,000 (voters), but I don't think we'll reach that; maybe 3,000," Casey said.

Casey's best guesses as to the reason for the lower turnout were the Red Sox being in the World Series and recent rainy and cold weather.

"We're more than happy to see people vote," Casey said. "The town puts a lot of expenses in this to make this happen, so we’d love to see people come out.”

The rest of the early voting schedule can be found below:

Friday, Oct. 26, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 29, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 2, 2018: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Although Braintree has seen lower early voter turnout, some parts of the country are reporting record turnout, including counties in Nevada, Kansas and Idaho.

Election day is Nov. 6.

Photo by Dan Libon