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Date: 2/21/2023
HATFIELD – With town election season almost around the corner, Hatfield Town Clerk Lydia Szych provided important details on the town website and at the Feb. 14 Board of Selectmen meeting regarding local elections.
According to Szych, vote-by-mail is still required for local elections this year unless the town of Hatfield decides to opt out.
For the town to opt out, Hatfield would have to conduct a hearing with a public role call vote similar to an Annual Town Meeting vote, and the hearing would have to occur 45 days before a town election.
Szych, however, recommended that the town does not opt out. “I think people really like it as a convenience,” she said. “And since [the state] is trying to push it, I would suggest we keep it for local elections.”
Select Board Chair Diana Syznal agreed with this stance, saying that the vote-by-mail choice “increases participation.”
In another update, Szych said that there is no early in-person voting for local elections unless 50 percent of the town’s Board of Registrars recommends it to the Board of Selectmen.
Szych’s recommendation to the Select Board was to not offer early in-person voting for local elections as an option since it usually requires additional costs and other requirements.
According to the town website, Hatfield’s Annual Town Election will occur on May 16 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the Memorial Town Hall meeting room.
The town has several positions that need to be filled including a three-year term for an assessor, a three-year term for a Board of Health seat, a three-year term for a cemetery commissioner, a five-year term for a Housing Authority seat, two library trustee positions, a three-year term for moderator, a five-year term for Planning Board, a five-year term for Redevelopment Authority, two three-year terms for School Committee, a three-year term for Select Board and a three-year term for town clerk.
Nomination papers and other information is available at the Town Clerk’s office at Memorial Town Hall in Room 101. The room is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment.
The last day to submit nomination papers is March 28, and the last day to register to vote is April 28 at the Town Clerk’s office.
Additionally, the Select Board voted to allow Citizens’ Petitions for the upcoming Annual Town Meeting to be submitted by March 10 this year. Starting in 2024, however, residents will have until Feb. 28 to submit their petitions.