Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text

Article 37

Town Meeting · Town Meeting archive year 2017 · Record af7d1dd347edbc0178

Saved text from 5 source pages. Transcription and OCR may contain errors; verify figures and wording against the original. Retrieved 2026-10-15.

2107 ATM, Article 37

Statement of Article
Replace Article 2, Section 1 of Canton General By-Laws (2015 edition) with:
The Annual Town Meeting for the election of officers and such other matters as may be
voted on the official ballot, shall be held over a two week period, on the third and fourth
weeks of March, at Town Hall or some other location designated by the Selectmen,
during the normal business hours of the Town Clerk.”

For reference, currently Article 2, Section 1 of Canton General By-Laws (2015 edition) is
worded as follows:
The Annual Town Meeting for the election of officers and such other matters as may be
voted on the official ballot, shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
April each year. The polls shall be opened at seven o’clock A.M. and shall not be
closed before eight o’clock P.M. in the Town Hall or in some other location designated
by the Selectmen.

Discussion
It’s no secret that voter turnout for Canton’s municipal elections has been dropping for
decades. Over the last ten years Canton, most likely, has the unenviable record of the
lowest voter turnout of any of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts.

For the first time in history, all Massachusetts voters were able to cast early ballots
without restrictions in the November 2016 elections. By all accounts, it was a great
success. There is no doubt it created excitement, increased awareness that an election
would be taking place, and increased voter turnout. The hope with Article 37 is that it
will do the same, but admittedly, in a more modest way. It is unreasonable to expect,
and it isn’t claimed, that early voting will completely restore civic interest in voting at the
local level. However, it will almost certainly increase voter turnout which, without
exception, is a good thing.

Article 37 reduces the cost to the town of holding municipal elections to a fraction of a
traditional election. It dramatically reduces the stress on our many elderly election
workers. It also eliminates the annual disruption, and significant safety issues, at the
four school polling stations.

Legally, this article conforms to Massachusetts General Law, because it greatly
exceeds the requirements specified by MGL Chapter 54, section 64 (1). However, I was
unsuccessful in getting a legal opinion from Town Counsel. (Please see attached letter
from our Town Administrator.)

It’s possible our Town Clerk might raise issues concerning the last day a person can
register to vote relative to the current day of the election, or other technical details. I am
prepared to offer a substitute article at ATM to fix any technical issues that might arise
between now and then. The reason the last two weeks in March was picked, rather
than, for example, the first two weeks in April, was to give a new elected official an
additional week before entering the fray of ATM.

   1. MGL c.54, sec.64 “In towns, at the election of town officers, the polls may be
      opened as early as fifteen minutes before six o'clock in the forenoon, and shall
      be opened as early as twelve o'clock, noon, and shall be kept open at least four
      hours, and until the time specified in the warrant when they may or will be closed;
      and in towns not voting by precincts they may be kept open for such longer time
      as the meeting shall direct. The selectmen in any town may provide that the
      hours during which the polls shall be open for the purpose of voting on a question
      to be submitted to the voters of said town shall be the same as the hours
      designated by said selectmen for the election of town officers. After an
      announcement has been made by the presiding officer of a time so fixed for
      closing the polls they shall not be closed at an earlier hour.”

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                                       Office of the Selectmen
Board of SelectmenPolice Commissioners
                   Upper Memorial Hall
                  8O1 WASH.NGTON STREETBARD F P^BLIC WORKS
                                                      CANTON, MA O2O2 1LICENSING BOARD

TEL:    (781)821-5000
FAX:   (781)821-2935TOWN ADMINISTRATOR
Email: caspinwall@town.canton.ma.usCharles j. aspinwall




       Decemb^r 29, 2016

       Bruce Rohr
       161 Chapman St.
       Canton, MA 02021


       Dear Mr. Rohr:


       This is in response to your request for Town Council (Counsel) services relative to a
       proposed town meeting article proposed by you. Generally, town funds may only be spent
       for a public purpose. As suggested in your letter, the article will be proposed by individual
       petition and is therefore not a public purpose and is therefore an individual matter.

       Regrettably I therefore must decline your request to use Town Counsel services to assist
       you with developing your article.


       Very truly yours,




       Charles J. Aspinwall
       Town Administrator




       Cc: Board of Selectmen




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From:            Jones, Ellen
To:              Barbara Saint Andre; Cindy Thomas; Cynthia Holcombe (10cynt10@gmail.com); Dianne Gustafson; Jerry
                 Dorfman; Nichola Gallagher; Rob Barker; Stephanie Leach; Stephanie Leach; Tim McKenna; Rob Barker
Cc:              Murgia, James R.; Aspinwall, Charles
Subject:         FW: Article 37 Amend General By-Laws - Time of Annual Town Election (Bruce Rohr citizen-sponsored article)
Date:            Thursday, March 16, 2017 9:45:00 AM



Hello, Please see the opinion of Tracy Kenney regarding Article 37. To date, I do not believe we have
received an opinion from Town Counsel on Article 37. Thank you. Ellen



From: Aspinwall, Charles
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2017 9:42 AM
To: Jones, Ellen; Murgia, James R.; Barbara J. Saint Andre
Subject: FW: Article 37 Amend General By-Laws - Time of Annual Town Election

FYI - below

Charles J. Aspinwall
Town Administrator
Town of Canton
801 Washington St.
Canton, MA 02021
781-821-5000 Office
781-821-2935 FAX

From: Aspinwall, Charles
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 9:44 PM
To: Kenney, Tracy
Subject: RE: Article 37 Amend General By-Laws - Time of Annual Town Election

Tracy, would you mind if I shared this with the BOS and Fin Comm?

From: Kenney, Tracy
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 3:49 PM
To: Aspinwall, Charles
Cc: McHugo, Gale; Dever, Kathy
Subject: Article 37 Amend General By-Laws - Time of Annual Town Election

Charlie,

When I first read the proposed amendment that the Annual Town Election “be held over a two-
week period, on the third and fourth weeks of March, at Town Hall or some other location
designated by the Selectmen, during the normal business hours of the Town Clerk”, I was not
certain if Mr. Rohr’s intent was to actually expand the current election “day” to a two-week period,
or to take the two-week “early voting” period, which was successfully implemented for the State
Election last November, and attempt to incorporate it on a local level. The difference is important
because there are laws which are specific to early voting as opposed to voting on election day.

In his discussion of the amendment Mr. Rohr had referenced the success of early voting and

providing voters an expanded opportunity to cast a ballot. He also mentioned that a police officer
would not be required. This led me to believe that he actually intended the change to be a local
version of early voting, however, after receiving clarification from Mr. Rohr, it seems that his intent
is to simply take the current election day and turn it into a two-week election period. All other
election laws would remain in effect.

Currently, the law does require that a police officer or constable be at the polling location on
election day, therefore, one would have to assume that the same requirement would be in place for
a two-week election period. If the Clerk’s office is the polling location it would require that a police
officer be on duty at all times during our forty-two hour work week.   No doubt, that will be
expensive.

Also, at the end of the election day, as required by law, the tabulator results must be reconciled and
a tally of the preliminary results must be posted publicly outside the entrance to each polling
location. Posting the results at the end of each day of the election period would completely
eliminate fairness and impartiality in the election process because as the election period progressed,
every day the public would have an unofficial running total of how each candidate was fairing.

Another issue is how deadlines would be effected. The deadlines to post the warrant, the
availability of nomination papers and the deadline to register to vote, for example, are each set in
accordance to a specific number of days before “election day”.

I would also anticipate a number of logistical issues, such as, how to program tabulators for two
weeks of voting; is there enough room in, the Salah room for example, to keeping each precinct’s
check in, check out and ballot box separate; after the ten days of voting how and when is the final
tally completed to determine the official totals.

I do understand that, to most people, the idea of changing the one day of voting to two weeks
sounds simple and logical and that most people would be very enthusiastic about the idea, however,
it is just not that simple. I am supportive of making voting accessible, however, in my opinion, this
type of change is inconsistent with current laws. And, absentee voting is already available in the
weeks prior to any election day for any voter who is not available to go to the polls on election day.

If you would like to speak on this I would be happy to set up a meeting.

Ms. Tracy K. Kenney
Canton Town Clerk

Ms. Tracy K. Kenney
Town Clerk
801 Washington Street
Canton, MA 02021

Tele. 781-821-5013
Fax    781-821-5016