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Date: 10/27/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton officials want to make sure residents are informed and ready to cast their votes in the upcoming Rank Choice Voting election on Nov. 2.
Ranked choice voting is for the mayoral race only, which features three candidates on the ballot – incumbent Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Fort Hill Brewery owner Eric Berzins, resident Keith Routhier, and write-in candidate Donald Torrey. The city councilor at large, district councilor, and School Committee voting will be on the same day but will follow the traditional voting format.
Since this is the first time ranked choice voting is being used in the city’s history, officials have sent out a mailer that explains how the process works, along with informative details available on their website.
Addressing how ranked choice voting works, City Clerk Barbara LaBombard explained, “You are not required to rank more than one candidate; you may rank as many or a few as you like. All the people have to do is just rank who they are, first, second, third, fourth. If they only want one person, you don’t have to choose any other ranks, and you can leave those ones blank. Again, you can rank as few or many as you want.”
Regarding the tabulating of votes, voting equipment and software will be used for the calculating the results. LaBombard said, “At the end of the night, when the machine gets the figures, if somebody gets more than 50 percent of the vote the first time around, we’re done. Because that is the goal for somebody to get the majority of the vote, not just the most.”
If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the person with the lowest number of votes is dropped out. Then the machine will look at who the second choice was, and that second choice for the lowest person will be moved up into who they have for the second choice. This process continues until somebody is at more than 50 percent – when you think about it for a single-winner race, it's not that complicated. The voter turnout is expected to be about 30 percent.”
In addition to in-person voting, residents have traditional absentee voting and no-excuse mail-in voting. LaBombard noted that voters had to submit in writing a signed Vote by Mail request by Oct. 27 no later than 5 p.m.
For those who want to learn more about the three candidates, there will be a virtual forum on Oct. 28 from 6:30 to 7:50 p.m. for mayoral candidates and at-large City Council candidates from 8 to 9:30 p.m. A Zoom link and details can be found on Easthampton Media’s Facebook page.
For more election details, forms and frequently asked questions, go to easthamptonma.gov.