2022 Sudbury Election: Everything To Know Before Election Day

SUDBURY, MA — Voters in Sudbury will head to the polls on Monday for the 2022 town election, which will feature four contested races for seats on municipal and school boards.

Voters in Sudbury this year will encounter two big changes compared to 2020 and 2021.

Pandemic voting rules in Massachusetts have expired, which means most voters will have to go to the polls on Monday to cast a ballot. No-excuse voting by mail may return, but has not been approved at the state level yet.

Precincts have also changed this year following the release of Census results in 2021. You can find your precinct on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website.

Here's everything you need to know about who's running in 2022, and how to vote.

In-person voting

Polls will be open in Sudbury from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. The town will offer two polling places, depending on your precinct.

• Town Hall, 322 Concord Road: Precincts 4 and 6
• Fairbank Community Center, 40 Fairbank Road: Precincts 1, 2, 3 and 5

Absentee voting

Unlike the two previous pandemic elections, absentee voting will only be allowed this year under limited circumstances.

• You're going to be out of town on Election Day
• You have a disability prevents you from going to the polls
• You have a religious belief that prevents you from voting in person

The Sudbury Town Clerk is pledging to keep voters as safe as possible on Election Day. Volunteers will be cleaning booths and sanitizing pens; there will also be hand sanitizer available at both polling sites. The town's indoor mask mandate expired earlier this month.

What's On The Ballot

There are nine races on the ballot in 2022, but only four are competitive.

Select Board member William Schineller is vacating his seat this year, while member Jennifer Roberts will try to keep her seat in 2022. Former Sudbury School Committee member Lisa Kouchakdjian and candidate Eric Poch are both running to at least pick up Schineller's seat.

There's also a four-way race for two open seats on the Goodnow Library Trustees. The relatively high number of candidates can partially be traced to a dispute between the trustees and the nonprofit Friends of the Goodnow group. Trustees Alan Gordon and Beth Whitlock are not running for new terms in 2022.

In January 2021, the trustees voted to sever ties with the nonprofit, and now Friends of the Goodnow President Alice Levine is running for a seat on the board. She has also endorsed fellow candidate Tim Anderson.

Candidates Jean Nam, founder of PlaySudbury, and Sudbury Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commissioner Katina Fontes have been jointly endorsed by key town residents, including former Select Board member Pat Brown.

Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee members Cara Endyke-Doran and Kevin Matthews are running for new terms. But challenger Maura Carty, an LSHS parent, is trying to pick up a seat in her first run for office. Voters will get to choose two of the three candidates.

Finally, Sudbury Public Schools nurse Carol Bradford is seeking reelection to the Board of Health, but is being challenged by Emerson Hospital nurse Ashley Horgan.

During a League of Women Voters forum in February, both Bradford and Horgan said they agreed with the town lifting a mask mandate on March 7. On vaccines, Horgan said she supports choice as opposed to mandates. Bradford agreed, but said higher vaccine rates could put the town closer to herd immunity, and said it's "a tough choice" whether to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.

Here's the full list of Sudbury 2022 candidates:

Select Board (vote for two)

• Jennifer Roberts (i)
• Lisa Kouchakdjian
• Eric Poch

Board of Assessors

• Trevor Haydon

Goodnow Library Trustees (vote for two)

• Timothy Anderson
• Katina Fontes
• Alice Levine
• Jean Nam

Sudbury Housing Authority

• Steven Swanger

Sudbury Board of Health (vote for one)

• Carol Bradford (i)
• Ashley Horgan

Sudbury Parks and Recreation Commission

• Mara L. Huston

Sudbury Planning Board

• Justin Leas Finnicum
• Anuraj Shah

Sudbury School Committee

• Meredith Gerson (three-year term) (i)
• Mandy Sim (one-year term) (i)

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee (vote for two)

• Maura Carty
• Cara Endyke-Doran (i)
• Kevin Matthews (i)

2022 Candidate Forums

The League of Women Voters of Sudbury held forums for contested races. Each forum can be viewed online, and viewers can skip through questions by topic or candidate. Here are links to each forum:

• Sudbury Board of Health
• Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee
• Goodnow Trustees
• Sudbury Select Board
• Uncontested Races