Somerville residents have been participating in the city’s early voting program since October 17. — Photos by Anqi Zhang

By Anqi Zhang

Strolling along streets on the sunny Saturday afternoon of October 24 in Somerville, one could find it natural to slow down and watch the surroundings – paths covered with yellow and red leaves, creatively decorated houses and yards, festive storefront. And the long line stretching from the entrance of Somerville City Hall to the square’s back was in harmonious order.

The line was for early voting for the 2020 State (Presidential) Election, taking place from October 17 to October 30 in Somerville. In addition to voting in person, this year all residents are eligible to vote by mail, with the deadline of returning their ballots being before 8:00 p.m. on November 3.

Until October 24, approximately 5,000 Somerville residents have taken part in early voting, according to Nicholas Salerno, the Chairman of the Board of Election Commissioners for Somerville. Compared with four years ago, he said the figure was “a little bit less” due to a series of safety protocols including setting up fewer polling computers, conducting social distancing.

On the second floor of City Hall, voters waited before entering the ballot room. Inside, each booth could only be used by one person to register their votes. The cleaning staffer sanitized the booth right after each voter left.

The staff set up tents at the entrance, under which they organized the line and controlled the number of people entering the building. Richard Blewett is an election worker was in charge of distributing the yellow envelopes to the people in line. The envelope is for voters to fill in their information, and is sealed up with the ballot inside before voters put it into a ballot box. It is the same envelope for voting by mail.

Blewett said that the voting process has been “very positive.” “People have been very respectful and have been observing social distance,” he said. “We’ve had musical entertainment, which is lovely.” 

Mike Block plays cello for those waiting in line.

He was speaking to Mike Block, who was playing cello at the corner of the square for the voters in queue. Block is the creator of Play For The Vote, a grassroot organization offering musical performances at polling locations across the country.

“Our goal is simply to make voting a more positive experience,” said Block, who already got his mail-in ballot. “I’ve already run into two friends who were in line to vote, so it’s nice to feel connected to everybody,” he said.

Jamie Baik, 28, chose early voting to avoid busy crowds. She prefers not to do mail-in because she felt unsure about it. “I know it was like kind of like extra paranoid, but I live here, so why not?” she said.

“So great!” Katie Kottas, 35, said with a delightful voice when asked about her feelings after finishing voting. She came with Brian Chappell, 35, who shared her joy. “I feel giddy. It’s cool to be able to do our civic duty, to do what we can to help change some things around here,” he said.

They waited in line for more than 50 minutes, and expressed their understanding towards the necessary waiting and satisfaction with the orderly polling process. Both working full time, doing early voting on a Saturday better fits their schedule, and they wanted to save the worry about ballots getting lost on the way.

“Considering Massachusetts starts to count votes immediately as they come in, I want to make sure that we got ours in as early as possible,” Chappell said. 

“I feel amazing! It’s so cool! It’s so invigorating!” said 19-year-old Isabel Montanez-Roderick after finishing her first ever voting experience on this special Saturday. Her father witnessed the moment with her.