Counting continues: Mail-in votes tabulated at Greenfield City Hall

Poll workers Peg Saulnier, at left, and Cathy Marcum, at right, work to tabulate the 10 mail-in ballots that were received on or after Election Day on Nov. 5. City Clerk Kathy Scott and Assistant City Clerk Quinn Jaquins, standing, help oversee the process at Greenfield City Hall on Tuesday.

Poll workers Peg Saulnier, at left, and Cathy Marcum, at right, work to tabulate the 10 mail-in ballots that were received on or after Election Day on Nov. 5. City Clerk Kathy Scott and Assistant City Clerk Quinn Jaquins, standing, help oversee the process at Greenfield City Hall on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

From left, City Clerk Kathy Scott and Assistant City Clerk Quinn Jaquins oversee poll worker Cathy Marcum as she works to tabulate 10 mail-in ballots at Greenfield City Hall on Tuesday morning.

From left, City Clerk Kathy Scott and Assistant City Clerk Quinn Jaquins oversee poll worker Cathy Marcum as she works to tabulate 10 mail-in ballots at Greenfield City Hall on Tuesday morning. STAFF PHOTO/ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Staff Writer

Published: 11-12-2024 4:40 PM

GREENFIELD — Though the average resident’s experience with Election Day ends once their ballot is entered into the electronic tabulator or old-fashioned ballot box, for municipal clerks and their staff, it’s not over yet.

City Clerk Kathy Scott and Assistant City Clerk Quinn Jaquins, assisted by poll workers Cathy Marcum and Peg Saulnier, gathered at City Hall on Tuesday morning to continue counting the 10 mail-in ballots that were received. Mailed ballots that were postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 5, and received by local election offices by Friday, Nov. 8, are being added to the totals to the existing unofficial data from Election Day and early voting.

In addition to these mail-in votes, Greenfield also received two federal write-in absentee ballots, which are provided to U.S. citizens who miss the absentee ballot request deadline, but still wish to vote. Using a federal write-in absentee ballot, a voter can weigh in just on the candidates in the presidential and congressional races. These two votes will be counted during a Monday, Nov. 18, meeting of the Board of Registrars of Voters.

According to Scott, all remaining ballots, including the 10 mail-in ballots and the two federal write-in absentee ballots, will be added to the total vote counts by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20, after which they will be given to the state, thus making the election results official.

Scott provided thorough instructions to the two poll workers, and the process of unsealing and counting the ballots took roughly an hour on Tuesday. The 10 mail-in ballots came from seven of Greenfield’s nine precincts, with no mail-in ballots received from the other two.

The totals from the 10 mail-in ballots are as follows:

■President and Vice President: 8 Harris/Walz, 1 Trump/Vance, 1 blank.

■U.S. Senate: 7 Elizabeth Warren, 2 John Deaton, 2 blank.

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■U.S. House of Representatives: 10 James McGovern, 0 Cornelius Shea.

■Governor’s Council: 7 Tara Jacobs, 3 blank.

■State Senate: 9 Jo Comerford, 1 blank.

■State House of Representatives (Precincts 1-4 and 9): 3 Susannah Whipps, 0 Jeffrey Raymond.

■State House of Representatives (Precincts 5-8): 5 Natalie Blais, 2 blank.

■Clerk of Courts: 8 Benjamin Simanski, 2 blank.

■Register of Deeds: 8 Scott Cote, 2 blank.

■Council of Governments Executive Committee: 8 Jay DiPucchio, 2 blank.

■Question 1: 8 Yes, 1 No, 1 blank.

■Question 2: 8 Yes, 1 No, 1 blank.

■Question 3: 9 Yes, 1 No.

■Question 4: 9 Yes, 1 No.

■Question 5: 6 Yes, 4 No.

Greenfield’s unofficial election results for 2024 can be found at greenfield-ma.gov/alert_detail.php.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.