(Story updated 10/28/2023 to account for partial  2021 voting data)

Two and a half days into voting in Lowell’s municipal election, it appears getting caught in a stampede at the polls won’t be a concern.

As of noon today, two and a half days into the start of in-person early voting, 73-people have taken advantage of the opportunity designed to increase participation. Most of those are city employees working at City Hall or JFK Plaza, according to Director of Elections Greg Pappas.

As for mail-in/absentee ballots, roughly 4-dozen have been returned, with about 135 requests for mail ballots overall to this point.

With the inside consensus predicting a significantly lower turnout than in 2021, the first year under the new District Representation system, a comparison with how the 2023 numbers compare is not possible due to last April’s hack  of the city’s computer systems, according to Pappas. He adds that hard copies are “nowhere to be found.” (See updated data at end of article)

Pappas did offer the following data from the 2022 State election as a point of reference on the popularity of mail-in and in person early voting:

September 6, 2022 State Primary
Mail – 45.6%
Early – 4.6%
Election Day – 49.7%
Total Ballots Cast – 1,052,414

November 8, 2022 State Election
Mail – 37.3%
Early – 7.5%
Election Day – 55.2%
Total Ballots Cast – 2,511,461

As a reminder, the Elections Office at City Hall is open from 8am-5pm tomorrow, as it is the final day residents can register to vote in the upcoming election. The office is also open 8am-5pm tomorrow and 9am-3pm Sunday for early voting.

***Story Update***

A City Council motion response sent to InsideLowell provides some data from the General Election held November 2, 2021 (click here to see motion response)

November 2, 2021 Lowell City Election
Mail – 53% (roughly 6,000 according to report)
Early – 6.8%
Election Day – 40.2%
Total Ballots Cast – 12,145