Residents may already be thinking about an upcoming election but City of Cambridge wants them to extend that thread beyond this year to the upcoming municipal elections in 2022.
A survey available online is asking residents for their feedback on the methods of voting that can be adopted next year.
Eligible voters have to select a mayor, city councillors, school board trustees, regional councillors and regional council chair.
A document available online lists the four methods of voting that residents will have to give feedback on.
The first one is submitting paper ballots at a polling station. This in-person method is one most voters are familiar with.
The second one is internet voting. The document describes that a voter will receive a notification card with information on how to vote online. The voter can visit the secured internet voting website provided on the card and register to vote online. An identity verification will also be required to ascertain voter eligibility. The voter will then receive an encrypted email with a unique PIN, which can be used to log in to the secure website to vote. The voter will also receive a ballot with instructions on how to navigate through the various races.
A third option is a mail-in ballot, which can be requested by a voter after receiving a notification card. The voter is sent a vote-by-mail kit that includes a ballot, secrecy folder, voter declaration card and a return envelope with pre-paid postage up to the cut-off date. The voter marks the ballot in the kit and seals it inside the secrecy envelope. They would also sign their voter declaration card and mail it along with the envelope back to the city’s election office using the provided return envelope.
A fourth method, which may be new to people, is that of curbside/drive-thru voting. Eligible voters attend designated curbside/drive-thru voting locations listed on the voter cards. The voters will remain in their vehicles until prompted to drive up to the curbside registration desk. The registration desk election officials will check off the ID of all voters in the vehicle from the voter’s List. The driver will park at a designated spot and all voters will receive a ballot inside a secrecy sleeve and vote within the privacy of the vehicle. Voters then place their ballot in the ballot box presented to them at their window.
All ballots collected curbside are fed into a tabulator at the end of the voting day.
The EngageCambridge website also mentions that should the pandemic still be a factor in the 2022 election, the city is well positioned and prepared to incorporate safety procedures in its planning.
The survery is available till Aug. 27.
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