some more Somerville city election links

[ron_newman]

[adding to what I posted on Tuesday]

The SCATV program "Greater Somerville" has produced two episodes about the upcoming election:
October 29: 2013 Election Special
October 9: 2013 Candidates Speak

The Weekly Dig's endorsements (scroll to bottom of article). Some of the Dig's statements -- that "City Hall there is essentially run like a pay-to-play political machine in 1952" and "the apparent criminal enterprise that is the All-America City" -- strike me as hyperbolic.

The Somerville Times endorsements, which are pretty much the opposite of the Somerville Journal endorsements.

The Times endorsement editorial contains at least one serious factual error: it attacks Ward 5 alderman candidate Mark Niedergang with a claim that he lobbied for the city retirement board to divest from Israeli bonds. In fact, he lobbied AGAINST such divestment. (I should know; I was sitting next to him at the Board of Aldermen meeting on this subject.)

[Earlier posts: August 10 | September 17 | October 29 ]

Comments

[rose_garden.livejournal.com]

I moved to Somerville this week and I haven't registered to vote yet. I assume I cannot vote on Nov 5?

[cos]

You cannot vote in this election. What you can do is call the secretary of state's office and express disappointment that we don't have election day registration in this state yet. We would've had it years ago if Secretary Bill Galvin didn't keep blocking it (while pretending to support it, in public). You can also remember to support anyone who challenges Galvin in a primary if he runs for re-election, and to never vote for him for any other office he runs for.

[ron_newman]

If you moved from another city that is having a local election on November 5 (such as Cambridge or Boston), you can return to your old polling place and vote there, if you want to.

[rose_garden.livejournal.com]

Nope. It was a 3000 mile move.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

This is bad advice. If you moved from another city you can probably *get away with* voting in their election. However, state law prohibits you from voting in local elections of a community of which you are no longer a resident. This is not true of state/federal elections where you have a six month grace period.

[ron_newman]

I did not know this! Do you happen to have a citation? I guess I was thinking of the rule for state and federal elections.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter51/Section1

Notwithstanding any special law to the contrary, every such citizen who resides within the boundaries of any district, as defined in section one A of chapter forty-one, may vote for district officers and in any district meeting thereof, and no other person may so vote. A person otherwise qualified to vote for national or state officers shall not, by reason of a change of residence within the commonwealth, be disqualified from voting for such national or state officers in the city or town from which he has removed his residence until the expiration of 6 months from such removal.

[ron_newman]

The definition of 'district' doesn't seem to include "city" or "town".

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, but the exception explicitly only mentions state and federal. More to the point, that's how the law works in practice, at least in Somerville. We do not let people who have left the city vote in local elections.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

It might be that cities and towns are empowered to set their own policies, which is why the state law only mentions "districts". Unless you know that Cambridge or Boston have such grace periods, I wouldn't recommend that former residents try to vote there.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

If your polling place is a school, don't forget your wallet. There will most likely be a bake sale going on. I know the Brown School 6th grade is having a sale to support their trip to Nature's Classroom.

[ron_newman]

My polling place (6-1) is the Kennedy School, but there was no bake sale (at least not at 2 pm) :-(