By Adam Swift
The city council approved early voting for both the Sept. 16 municipal preliminary election and the Nov. 4 municipal election during a brief regular meeting last week.
The only preliminary election on the slate for Sept. 16 is the Ward 1 School Committee race, which would feature incumbent Jacqueline Monterroso, Kathryn Schulte-Grahame, and Michael Toto, Jr.
The early voting dates and times at City Hall for the preliminary election are Saturday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, Sept. 8 through Thursday, Sept. 11 from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Friday, Sept. 12 from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
The early voting dates and times at City Hall for the municipal election are Saturday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 27 through Thursday, Oct. 30 from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Friday, Oct. 31 from 8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Election Commission Danielle Pietrantonio also fielded some general election questions during the council meeting,
Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, who is running for an at-large seat this fall, asked if there was a date when candidates could begin putting out their election signs.
“No, so that is private property, people can do what they want there and we can’t enforce it,” said Pietrantonio. “People can do what they want and we can’t enforce any timelines or restrictions.”
Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro noted that the council should look at doing away with the political sign policy the city currently has on the books because it is unenforceable and confuses people.
Cogliandro said he has also gotten some questions about sign holding during early voting and the rules for holding signs around City Hall while the voting is ongoing.
“Technically, on the books, it’s 150 feet from the entrance of whatever entrance you are going to use in a building for early voting,” said Pietrantonio. “Usually, at City Hall, because all of the entrances are available, it would be the whole little island around (City Hall)” the same as it is on election day.
Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky asked about the time between when nomination papers were first made available this election season and when they had to be returned to the election department.
Pietrantonio said the election calendar was set this year before she took over as the commissioner, and that she would look at shortening that timeframe, with the approval of the election commission, for the next municipal election.
