Clerks in Monson, Ware credit mail-in, early voting with solid election turnout

Date: 11/18/2022

MONSON/PALMER/WARE – While local communities share similar election results, the results do not necessarily match that on a statewide level.

Following the Nov. 8 election, local town clerks recognized the turnout and shared varying results within their communities.

In Monson, there are 6,276 registered voters. For this election, 3,741 people cast their ballot - a 60 percent voter turnout. Town Clerk Mary Watson said, “The biggest factor is in-person early voting and voting by mail. I do feel that more people vote because of this. Other factors include social media, news and of course all the campaign ads on television.”

Although the turnout decreased from the 64 percent of town voters in the 2018 election, Watson shared, “I was very pleased with the turnout and how smooth the day went. It was wonderful to see all the campaigning in town for candidates both before the election and during election day.”

At press time, Watson said the results were still unofficial as she is waiting for three provisional ballots to be researched through the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. However, based on those results, Republican gubernational candidate Geoff Diehl was favored by Monson residents, receiving 1,950 votes. Attorney General Maura Healey, who won the overall election, followed Diehl with 708 votes and Kevin Reed, 63.

For attorney general, 2,005 residents voted for James R. McMahon over statewide winner Andrea Joy Campbell. Campbell received 1,165 votes in Monson.

In neighboring Ware, election results were similar. Diehl received more votes than Healey, with 1,709 compared to 1,598. Reed only received 73 votes.

McMahon also won in Ware with 1,786 votes over Campbell’s 1,557.

Ware Town Clerk Nancy Talbot said the voter turnout was greater than expected. “People weren’t really talking about this election,” she said.

Nonetheless, she shared, “I think it’s great. Voting is the best thing we have in a democracy.”

She continued, “Mail in and early applications weren’t even half of what we had in 2020 [for the presidential election]. However, this year, she said they received close to 1,900 early and mail-in voting ballots – almost half – of the 3,383 total people that voted. She estimated that Ware has around 7,383 registered voters in town.

Talbot noted that the election results were not yet official as of press time.

Similarly in Palmer, the town has only posted the unofficial results. Like Monson and Ware, Diehl dominated the polls with 2,314 votes over Healey’s 1,988 votes. McMahon also won with 2,357 votes compared to Campbell’s 1,962.

Reminder Publishing contacted Palmer Town Clerk Susan Coache for comment but did not hear back as of press time.

Other election results

Incumbent Democrat William Galvin claimed the secretary of state victory in Massachusetts over Republican Rayla Campbell and Juan Sanchez. To assist in this win, he received 1,868 votes from Monson, 1,782 from Ware and 2,512 from Palmer.

Democrat Deborah Goldberg defeated Libertarian Cristina Crawford for the treasurer position. Palmer residents led the votes with 2,365 followed by 1,994 in Monson and 1,951 in Ware.

For auditor, Republican Anthony Amore was favored in Palmer (2,193) and Monson (1,870), but not Ware (1,164). He ultimately lost the election to Democrat Diana DiZoglio.
Ballot questions

Question 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that adds a 4 percent surtax on income over $1 million, was rejected by residents of Monson (2,031), Palmer (2,329) and Ware (1,839).

Question 2, regulating dental insurance rates, seemed to be favored by many residents. In Ware, 2,022 people voted yes; Palmer, 2,492 and Monson, 2,168.

Question 3, which sought to increase the number of available retail alcohol licensees, was rejected by residents in Palmer (2,882), Monson (2,352) and Ware (2,263).

Lastly, ballot Question 4 asked to uphold the current law that allows for immigrants lacking legal status to obtain a driver’s license. All three towns rejected this question. This included 2,798 people voting against it in Palmer, 2,352 in Monson and 2,125 in Ware.
Ware ballot questions

On the election ballots in Ware, residents had two local questions to vote on. The first one, Question 5, pertained to changing the tax levy with a proposed underride of $400,000. After the Select Board decided to turn this question over to voters, 2,031 residents voted yes and 1,139 voted no.

Ultimately, the ballot question passed. Now, the $400,000 will be removed from the tax levy for next year and each year afterward. The underride will reduce the amount available for the subsequent annual budgets by $400,000.

Talbot went on to explain ballot Question 6. The question read, “Shall the representative from this district be instructed to introduce/vote for legislation that puts the fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels to compensate for their environmental damage and returns most of the proceeds in equitable ways to individualize as a cash back dividend?” The motion failed with 447 people voting no and 351 voting yes.

There were no local ballot questions in Monson or Palmer.