Burlington Town Clerk: Voter Turnout Already 55%

BURLINGTON, MA — Over half of Burlington's registered voters have already cast their ballots, more than a week before polls close on Nov. 3, Town Clerk Amy Warfield told the Board of Selectmen, Monday.

As of Monday evening, 55 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots, including 3,000 via early in-person voting and about 6,700 by mail. Roughly three-quarters of the mail ballots Warfield's office has sent out have already been returned.

>>Election 2020: Burlington Voter Guide

At 9,700 votes, turnout has easily cleared the 6,875 cast in Burlington's most recent election, the Sept. 1 state primary. Warfield said she expects turnout to land around 85 percent. In the last three presidential elections, turnout was between 83 and 86 percent.

"We're hoping we'll be up to 90 percent," Warfield said.

Even before vote-by-mail and early voting were expanded due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state tended to have high turnout, Warfield noted. In 2016, the state had the seventh highest turnout as a percentage of eligible voters.

Warfield said that the town has started emptying the ballot dropbox more frequently, with a police officer present, due to it filling up too quickly.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.