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As Early Voting Set To Start In Mass., 'High Risk' Communities Say They're Ready

An early voting sign in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
Adam Frenier
/
NEPM
An early voting sign in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Early in-person voting starts Saturday in Massachusetts. Some communities deemed "high risk" for COVID-19 are saying they're ready.

The state has designated Springfield "red," or high-risk, for the coronavirus over the last few weeks.

City Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola-Lopez said safety precautions will mirror what was used during early voting for the September primary. They include having plenty of hand sanitizer, gloves and plexiglass dividers to protect both poll workers and voters.

"We've always worked under the assumption that there was the danger of transmission between a voter and poll workers, or vice versa," Oyola-Lopez said. "We have the polling locations and the early voting sites set up with that in mind."

In Amherst, also designated a high-risk community by the state, interim town clerk Susan Audette said some small adjustments have been made since the last early voting period ahead of the September primary.

"We have more protective equipment. We have additional plexiglass shields for the workers," Audette said. "We're going to maintain the same level of sanitation that we did — we will be sanitizing the voting booths, pens, any place that's a common-touch area."

Audette said about half of Amherst's more than 16,000 voters have already requested mail-in ballots. That number is around 20% in Springfield as well as in Holyoke, another COVID-19 "high-risk" community.

Holyoke's city clerk, Brenna McGee, said one change being made there since in-person early voting for the primary will be a limit on how many people are allowed in the polling place at a time. 

Early voting in Massachusetts will be available through October 30. 

Adam joined NEPM as a freelance reporter and fill-in operations assistant during the summer of 2011. For more than 15 years, Adam has had a number stops throughout his broadcast career, including as a news reporter and anchor, sports host and play-by-play announcer as well as a producer and technician.
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