Municipal Elections Today: Critical Voter Information

Races for mayor and for at-large city councilor, as well as a referendum question to repeal the Community Preservation Act, headline today’s election ballot. When and where do you go to vote?

NORTHAMPTON – Municipal elections are today. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The election ballot features races for mayor, City Council at-large, City Council and School Committee ward seats, and other citywide positions.

There is also a ballot question asking voters if they want to remove the city from participation in the Community Preservation Act, which uses a 3-percent surcharge on real estate sales to help the city acquire and preserve open space, conservation land, affordable housing, historic sites and other limited activities. (To see our story on a recent debate on the ballot question, click here.)

To find out where you should vote, you can click here, plug in your address and be told where to vote.

Here are the polling locations:

• WARD 1 precincts A & B Jackson Street School Gymnasium, 120 Jackson Street
• WARD 2 precincts A & B Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, 80 Locust Street
• WARD 3 precincts A & B Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz Street
• WARD 4 precincts A & B Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz Street
• WARD 5 precinct A Florence Civic and Business Building, 90 Park Street
• WARD 5 precinct B Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, 80 Locust Street
• WARD 6 precincts A & B Robert K. Finn Ryan Road School, 498 Ryan Road, Florence
• WARD 7 precinct A John F. Kennedy Middle School Community Room, 100 Bridge Road, Florence
• WARD 7 precinct B Leeds School gymnasium, 20 Florence Street, Leeds

To see a copy of the ballot that shows all citywide races, as well as the little-publicized Ward 2 race for city councilor between incumbent City Councilor Paul Spector and challenger Jackie Misa, scroll to the bottom of this story or click here.

City Clerk Wendy Mazza predicted Monday that 55 percent of the city’s 19,301 registered voters, or 5,838 people, will cast ballots in today’s election; several hundred voters had already filled out absentee ballots by yesterday’s deadline. Poll workers in every precinct are ready to answer voter questions, and extra folks will be helping out in the city clerk’s office to sort out questions from would-be voters and help crunch voting totals.

To contact the city clerk’s office, call (413) 587-1224.

Results will start trickling into the campaign headquarters shortly after the polls close 8 p.m., when ticker-tape vote totals will be posted at each voting location.

After the ballots themselves are delivered to City Hall, City Clerk Maza will read the official but “preliminary” vote totals to a crowd of people likely to feature most of the citywide candidates.

Live coverage of the results will be broadcast from City Hall on Northampton Community TV and on WHMP radio. And Northampton Media will be tweeting live results as they come in, as will supporters of the various candidates.

© 2011 Northampton Media             

David Reid can be reached at dreid@northamptonmedia.com