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Date: 8/29/2023
Editor's note: This story is part of Reminder Publishing's special section dedicated to the upcoming Springfield preliminary and city elections on Sept. 12 and Nov. 7, respectively. This section is included in the Aug. 31 issue of the Springfield North and Springfield South editions of The Reminder.
SPRINGFIELD — Turnout for Springfield’s 2023 preliminary and general elections could be among the most robust in recent history for a city election.
While she declined to make specific estimates, City Clerk Gladys Oyola, who has served as the city’s election commissioner since 2009, said she was optimistic about a large turnout, given the historic nature of this year’s field.
Historic, indeed.
For perhaps the first time since defeating incumbent Mayor Charlie Ryan to become mayor in 2007, Mayor Domenic Sarno faces serious and seasoned political opposition in his bid to continue his tenure as the city’s longest-serving mayor with a sixth term.
In his four reelection bids, Sarno has faced no or little resistance. In 2009, Sarno defeated former City Councilor and current 11th Hampden District state Rep. Bud Williams with more than 69% of the vote. That represents the closest race to date. City Councilor Jose Tosado, who at the time was council president, was soundly defeated by the incumbent mayor in 2011, who captured nearly 72% of the support in the final election after dominating a three-way preliminary that included former School Committee member Antonette Pepe.
Beginning in 2011, the mayor’s term was extended from two to four years and also represented a stark drop in the stakes for Sarno during election season. In 2015, Sarno drubbed political outsider Salvatore Circosta, who, while picking up just 22.6% of the vote, celebrated his loss as a victory by compelling “the machine spend $84,000.” Sarno also dominated a six-candidate field in the preliminary and did not engage Circosta in any public forums or debates.
Likewise, in 2019, Sarno gave scant attention to campaigning as he cruised to victory against local activist Yolanda Cancel in the final election after comfortably leading a preliminary field of Cancel and Jeffrey Donnelly. Linda Matys O’Connell was on the ballot officially but dropped out of the race before the preliminary.
Oyola said the shift to a mayoral election every four years has led to lower turnout in elections for two-year terms like City Council and School Committee, but even in years with a mayoral race, voter participation has dragged.
“For 2019, we had one contest — Domenic Sarno and Yolanda Cancel — and the turnout was 15,000, so even that having a mayoral race did not have a great turnout,” she said, referencing the official count of 15,853 people who came to the polls for the 2019 city election, which represented slightly more than 16% of the city’s voting population. Less than 8% came out for the preliminary that year. Similarly, less than 17% of voters went to the polls during the 2015 election. Voter turnouts in the 2011 preliminary and final election were 14.7% and 22%, respectively, while 2009 garnered a 25% turnout.
This year is clearly different — both in size and experience of the field — and Oyola expects the number of ballots cast the reflect that.
She noted the five-candidate field features four either active or former members of the City Council including Sarno. Current City Council President Jesse Lederman and Councilor Justin Hurst have been on the council since 2018 and 2013, respectively. Lederman was vice president of the council prior to the departure of Ward 5 Councilor Marcus Williams and Hurst also previously served as council president. State Rep. Orlando Ramos represented Ward 8 from 2013 until he was elected to the House of Representatives and began his first term in 2021, serving as council president for multiple terms. Before his tenure as mayor, Sarno was an at-large member and president of the council. Dr. David Ciampi has not help public office, having previously run unsuccessfully for a seat on the council.
In addition to their experience, the level of campaigning occurring in the city has piqued public interest.
In addition to the mayoral race, the at-large City Council race features a historically wide array of candidates – 20 in all – vying for five seats.
“In my recollection as election commissioner, this is the largest amount of people to have taken out nomination papers and the largest amount of candidates we have seen on one ballot,” she said.
The ballot features incumbent City Councilors at-Large Sean Curran, Kateri Walsh and Tracye Whitfield and a bevy of challengers - Juan J. Caraballo III, Nicole D. Coakley, Jose M. Delgado, Drew Keaton El, Debra Fletcher, Lynell D. Gasque, Juan Francisco Latorre III, Mike Lee, Gerry J. Martin, Willie J. Naylor, Edward Nunez, Thomas A. Oakley, Kim Marie Rivera, Norman Roldan, Brian Santaniello, Charles Anthony Stokes and Jonathan Viruet. Soraya Denise Mcelya submitted a valid number of signatures for candidacy but has since dropped out of the race.
“We were concerned that we would have to have a double-sided ballot,” Oyola said. “Thankfully, they all fit on one side.”
Since the City Council shifted to a mix of at-large and ward representatives in 2009, no previous at-large field featured more than 13 candidates. Preliminary elections in 2011 and 2017 each featured 13 candidates.
While Oyola admitted her office has not seen a large number of residents walking in to check their registration status, candidates have played an important role in boosting the voter base.
“My deputy, Chelsea Parmentier, noted that a lot of the candidates are coming in and they’re going out and making sure people are registered. They’re bringing voter registration forms, going door-to-door, and door-knocking for their campaigns. They’re also bringing vote-by-mail applications, so she’s seeing a lot of that down at the elections office,” she said.
Specifically, Oyola also noted mayoral candidates have played an active role in registering voters and educating residents on the processes.
“They have clearly very active campaigns. They’re out there. Just personally, I see them coming in and engaging with our election staff trying to make sure that their support are all registered and their voter base are voting by mail or are aware of the early voting times because they are trying to make sure they get every single person they can to get out and vote,” she said.
Oyola said perpetuating residents’ access to mail-in and early in-person voting is another important tool in boosting participation. As of Aug. 23 when she spoke to Reminder Publishing, she said 1,120 vote-by-mail ballot requests, which is more than double the amount for any previous primary.
“We think it’s really important to have the continuity of that same practice. The state had us do it as part of the 2020 COVID voter outreach, then we did it in 2021 and the state paid for it in 2022. This year, it was either opt in or opt out and the Board of Election Commissioners met and agreed that we should continue to provide as many options for people to vote as possible given the fact that our turnout is lower in a local election,” she said.
Early in-person voting for the preliminary election at City Hall, 36 Court St., room 8, began on Aug. 30 and will continue at the following dates and times: Thursday, Aug. 31, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 1 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Sept. 5, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Sept. 6, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 7, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Early voting will also take place at the Clodo Concepcion (Greenleaf) Community Center, 1188 Parker St., on Saturday, Sept. 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Raymond Jordan Senior Center, 1476 Roosevelt Ave., on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Applications for mail-in ballots can be submitted to the Springfield Board of Elections and must be received by Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 5 p.m. They may be sent by mail to Springfield Board of Elections, 36 Court Street, Room 8, Springfield, MA 01103; emailed to elections@springfieldcityhall.com or faxed to 413-787-6186. Once you have received your ballot, it must be returned to the Springfield Board of Elections by the time polls close on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m., either by mail or at the drop box located behind City Hall.
Outreach and education have been a focus of the Election Office, Oyola added. She said information is available on the office’s social media and website and has been part of its voter registration efforts at various outreach events. Additionally, Oyola’s office has sent vote-by-mail applications with every acknowledgment of a change in voter registration status, whether a voter is newly registered or simply changing their address, for example. On Aug. 23, more than 80,000 postcards were mailed to city residents with information and a QR code that when scanned provides information on the election, including all of the voting options.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to reach people where they are and make sure they know the services that our office offers as well as what their rights are as voters,” Oyola said.
On Election Day, the city’s polls should be fully staffed, with two trainings for wardens, clerks and inspectors taking place on Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, but Oyola said they are always looking for more help.
“I’d say we’re always looking for election workers. That’s something that is kind of a 365 day a year recruitment drive,” she said. “We are currently probably 90% staffed and we have two trainings coming up, and then by Sept. 2 we should be at 100% capacity. That being said, we always have a backup pool of poll workers in order to cover any call-outs. We do get call-outs on Election Day, so we like to have an overstock to take that into account as well.”
With that said, Oyola encourages residents not to wait until Election Day and, if they have any questions or concerns, reach out in advance of the election.
“The frustration I do see on Election Day on the part of voters is when they wait until the last minute to find our if they’re registered, to realize they can’t cast a ballot if they’re in New York on Election Day, or situations like that,” she said. “If you have the intention of voting and you want to see if you are registered to vote, please contact us before Election Day. We want you to vote. We want you to cast your ballot.”