-Early voting in the Mil City, along with the rest of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, kicked off October 22^nd. According to Lowell Elections Director Greg Pappas, there have already been more than 8,000 mail in and early voting ballots cast, meaning at least 12% of the city’s registered voters have already submitted ballots.

The last day to vote early is November 4^th, with November 8^th being the date by which absentee/mail ballots must be postmarked. And of course, November 8^th is also Election Day, with polls in Lowell open from 7am-8pm. (click here to view a complete list of polling locations)

-Of the 8,000+ ballots already cast, over 95% of them have been sent through the mail. Which begs the question; why are we wasting taxpayer dollars with in-person early voting when absentee/mail ballots are so readily available and overwhelmingly the preferred early option?

Prior to no-excuse absentee voting, an argument (a weak one in my eyes) could be made for a two-week early voting period leading to Election Day, but at this point, it seems like an unnecessary waste of effort and taxpayer dollars. Then again, wasting effort and taxpayer dollars seems to be what government does best these days.

Despite every effort short of sending luxury limos to deliver humans to a polling location, the percentage turnout remains largely unchanged in Lowell. I say, time to do away with the wasteful spending for something very few take advantage of. Offer same day or mail-in voting options only, which 99% of the city’s electorate opts for anyway.

-Meanwhile, the rules around the mail-in voting have been amended. Previously, if your ballot did not arrive at City/Town Hall by Election Day, your ballot would not be counted. Now, as long as your ballot has been post-marked by Election Day, it will be counted in the official tally, provided it arrives within four days. This year, that date is Saturday November 12th.

-One other procedural change to note; in the past, if you voted early but had a change of heart about your choices, you could go to City Hall, request your previous vote be discarded and cast a new ballot. That is no longer the case. As stated right on the Secretary of State’s website, “your ballot is considered to be cast once you give it to an election official and it has been accepted. Once you have voted, you cannot take back your early ballot or vote again.” (bold font added by Sec. of State, not yours truly)

-There isn’t a lot of drama expected on election night, except maybe in the Greater Lowell Regional Technical High School (going forward to simply be referred to as it should…..THE VOKE!!!) School Committee races.

With five write-in campaigns being mounted, plus the system change that allows residents of Lowell, Dracut, Tyngsboro and Dunstable to cast votes for Voke candidates in the other communities as well, it’s shaping up as a confusing day for many at the polls (remember in 2021 when we were concerned people wouldn’t know where to vote in Lowell, let alone this potential bleep show?)

It’s also shaping up as a longer than usual night of vote tabulating.

According to Pappas, who had decades of experience in the Secretary of State’s office before becoming Elections Director in Lowell, once polls close, the ballots will be tabulated by the voting machines at each precinct. as usual. Results will be printed and posted at the doors of each polling location, as usual.

Except for the ballots that have write-in votes, which because of the Voke races, should be a far greater than normal number. Those must be separated from others and hand counted on-site by the election officials. They will then be transported to City Hall for the unofficial results reporting, keeping in mind that any tight races could still be subject to any outstanding ballots post-marked on or before the 8^th but arriving by the 12^th.

Here’s a novel concept; why don’t we go back to simple election rules that seemed to work just fine in generating the kinds of turnout we can only dream of in local elections today? It’s kind of ironic that once people started getting paid handsomely to “engage the voters” and get them to “show up at the polls,” fewer and fewer voters started getting engaged and showing up at the polls.

-Last week’s “Musings” suggested City Manager Tom Golden toss a Hail Mary in Jim Hall’s direction to see if he’d be willing to leave the School Department and assume the mantle of City Solicitor. I still believe that option is worth exploring.

That said, we’re starting to pick up rumblings that retaining a law firm to represent the city’s legal interests on an interim basis is an idea that is gaining steam.

On the surface, that may sound very un-Lowell-like. After all, the local bar association is stacked with talent and I’m pretty sure Manager Golden can find an attorney or two willing to tackle the role if he asks. And Lord knows we like to hire local talent around these parts.

However, an outside law firm with a large staff and resources already in place could hold down the fort for a bit, giving the Manager a chance to re-shape the Law Department under new leadership. That it might even be able to do so at a cost-savings to the taxpayer is an added benefit.

And who knows? If it works, perhaps the interim solution becomes permanent. After all, it’s not unheard of. In fact, one such Law Firm, KP Law, represents more than 1/3 of the cities and towns in Massachusetts.

If the name KP Law rings a school bell, it should. That’s the firm the Lowell School Committee hired in 2017 to sue the City Council over the high school location battle.