Boston: Election Department Issues Reminders Ahead of Tuesday, November 3 State Election

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The Boston Election Department reminds voters that the State Election will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Voters will elect the Commonwealth's Governor, a United States Senator, members of the United States House of Representatives and the Massachusetts General Court, and other local officials. This election will also feature nine ballot questions. Voters are encouraged to review their choices before heading to the polls on Election Day.

Boston has a total of 443,178 registered voters. The Election Department has recruited and trained more than 2,002 poll workers to serve across the 275 voting precincts in Boston. More than 483 poll workers can provide language assistance in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean, Russian, and Portuguese.

Voting On Election Day

Polling locations open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. A list of polling locations is available here. As a reminder, voters should check their registration status via the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website. Printed ballots will be available in English and Spanish, as well as English and Chinese and English and Vietnamese where required. Language interpreters will also be available upon request. All voting locations are wheelchair accessible and are equipped with an AutoMark Voter Assist Terminal for voters with disabilities to assist with marking the ballot independently.

The ballots will consist of three double-sided cards. Voters should cast the cards into the tabulator one at a time, waiting for the screen to say "system ready" before inserting the next card or leaving.

Poll Pads Electronic Check-in

Poll Pads will be used to check-in voters at each polling location. The voting process for voters remains the same: voters will check in with a poll worker, receive a 3 card, double-sided ballot, mark their vote, check out, and cast their ballot.

Central Tabulation

On Monday, October 26, the City of Boston started processing mail-in and in-person early voting ballots cast for the State Election for all 275 precincts. Ballots will be removed from their envelopes and fed into a tabulator at Boston City Hall, One City Hall Square, Room 801, Boston, MA 02201.

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Only ballots received prior to Friday, October 30, 2026, will be removed and deposited in Room 801.

Advance Processing Schedule

Ballot removal and processing will occur daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., beginning on Monday, October 26 through Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with processing beginning at 7:00 a.m. on November 3 (if necessary) and continuing until all ballots have been processed.
  • All ballots advance processed by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2026, will be centrally tabulated.
  • All other ballots received on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3, 2026) will be counted at a later date to be publicly noticed (schedule to follow), provided they meet one of the following deadlines:
  • Received by 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2026; or
  • Postmarked by November 3, 2026, and received before 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2026

Early Voting Totals

A total of 10,083 voters have voted early at in-person early voting sites across the City as of Monday, October 26, 2026.

Ballot Return

The Election Department has mailed out all 69,759 requested vote-by-mail and absentee ballots. As of Sunday, October 25, 2026, the City has received 29,269 returned ballots by mail. The total number of ballots received by mail and in-person early voting is 39,352.

Voters who requested a ballot and have not yet returned it are encouraged to return their ballots using any of the 22 drop boxes or in person at the Election Department in City Hall to ensure their ballots are counted. Ballot drop boxes are open to accept ballots through 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. Ballot packages postmarked by Tuesday, November 3 must be received by the Election Department no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2026.

Reminder: All ballot drop boxes will be closed as early as 8am on October 31 and reopened on November 1 by 2:00 pm. Voters can deposit their ballot after the box is reopened or deliver it to the Boston Election Department, City Hall Room 241.

Ballots cannot be returned to a polling location on Election Day.

Voters can track their ballot through the state's website here. If there is no movement indicated in the "Track My Ballot" system, voters should plan to vote in person on Election Day at their assigned precinct. Voters can check their polling location/status here.

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Unofficial Results

After polls close at 8:00 p.m., the Election Department will receive and upload unofficial results of ballots counted at polling places as they are returned from each precinct. Poll workers need time to tally election results and transport materials from polling places to City Hall. Uploading of election results may not begin until 10:00 p.m. Click here for additional information on election results.

The initial results reported on the website on election night will include:
  • Ballots cast in person on election day;
  • Early voting and mail-in ballots, including those from precincts being centrally tabulated at the City Hall central tabulation facility.

The unofficial results uploaded to www.boston.gov/election on election night will NOT include:
  • Hand counted ballots recorded in the precinct clerk's book after the close of polls or;
  • Mail and absentee ballots that arrive on time on election day, but are too late to be sent to polling locations to be counted. These ballots will be processed after the close of polls at 8:00 p.m., once the voter lists from each precinct have been received by the Election Department.
  • All other ballots not delivered to the polls that arrive on Election Day on November 3, 2026, will be counted at a later date to be publicly noticed (schedule to follow), provided they meet one of the following deadlines:
  • Received by 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2026; or
  • Postmarked by November 3, 2026, and received before 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2026

Initial results will display a citywide or districtwide total for each candidate. We expect to publish precinct-level unofficial results by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.

Media Guidelines

Where To Stand: Members of the press must remain behind the guardrail. While many polling places are not equipped with a physical guardrail, the area within the "guardrail" encompasses the check-in table, the voting booths, and the ballot box. Only poll workers and voters should be within this area.

Interacting With Voters and Poll Workers: Members of the press, like all other observers in the polling place, may not interact with voters while they are in the polling place. Further, observers who have questions about where they should stand and what they are allowed to do while observing should ask to speak to the warden. The warden may provide members of the press with information regarding their rights as observers.

Photography: Photography of the voting process in the polling place is permitted, though marked ballots may not be photographed. Photographers are allowed inside the polling place to photograph the area from outside the guardrail. The warden may instruct the photographer not to take photos of any marked ballots.

Video and Audio Recording: As with photography of the polling place, video recording of the polling place is allowed. Audio recording of the polling place is not permitted under state law. Anyone recording in the polling place must have the ability to record without capturing audio and should be instructed to do so by the warden. Those who are using electronic equipment may not use the electricity in the polling place to power their equipment.

Exit Polling: Exit polling and interviews of voters are permitted outside, within 150 feet of a polling place, as long as it does not interfere with a person or voter on their way to an election. Only voters leaving the polling place may be stopped. Voter access to the polling place should not be impeded in any way.

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