(Editor’s note: This story was written and intended to be posted on Sunday, Nov. 1, but a technical error prevented its timely publication.)
November 1, 2020 — Millions of ballots nationwide are already being tallied in advance of Election Day on Tuesday, and Lincoln is no different. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Town Clerk staff and volunteers spent hours opening and recording votes submitted via absentee ballot and early in-person voting.
A total of 3,467 votes have been cast (2,111 in precinct 1 and 1,356 in precinct 2). With 5,015 registered voters among Lincoln’s 7,050 residents, that translates to a voter turnout of 69% even before the polls open on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the polls will undoubtedly be busy on Tuesday; voter turnout in the last presidential election in 2016 was almost 86%, according to Town Clerk Valerie Fox.
Sunday’s process involved two sets of volunteers in Town Hall opening ballots, checking them against lists of registered voters, and feeding them into a voting machine that will tabulate the votes but will not display results until the polls have closed at 8 p.m. on November 3.
The pandemic and the passions surrounding this year’s election have galvanized Lincoln voters who are generally quite enthusiastic and involved even in normal years. On the first day of early voting on October 17, “there was a constant line,” Fox said.
In recent months, there was concern in many towns that there would not be enough help on and before Election Day, since polling volunteers tend to skew older and many senior citizens are wary of Covid-19. But this hasn’t been a problem, as younger residents have filled the gap, including college students who did not go back to campus in September because of the Covid-19 restrictions.
“One of the great things that’s come out of this election is the number of people who have volunteered,” Fox said. “Many seniors are not comfortable [working] on Election Day, but younger people have volunteered, and it’s their time to step in,” Fox said.
The reliability of the U.S Postal Service amid reports of delivery slowdowns that could have depressed turnout has also been a concern nationwide, “but the Lincoln postal services have been beyond what I could have hoped for — they have been absolutely outstanding,” Fox said. As an example, town postal workers received 2,000 blank ballots on October 7 for distribution residents who requested them — and they were all delivered on the same day. Postal workers are also prioritizing ballots that are postmarked on or before November 3 that don’t arrive that day. If the Town Clerk’s office gets them by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, they’ll still count.
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