With 1.3 million+ mail-in ballots shipped to Massachusetts voters, Galvin says heightened suspicion of election operations are unfounded

Alison Kuznitz

Local election offices and poll workers are not fielding threats of violence, but officials are contending with seemingly suspicious onlookers, Secretary of State Bill Galvin said during a television interview over the weekend.

“What we are seeing is, in some places, a heightened suspicion of election operations. People want to take videos — activities that suggest suspicions, which are unfounded,” Galvin, who did not delve into specific cases, said on NBC 10’s @Issue program. “You know, we have a very transparent system.”

Galvin pointed out that Massachusetts uses only paper ballots, and that the state has “very liberal recount laws,” in which candidates need to gather just 10 signatures per precinct as they seek a recount. “I don’t think the suspicions are justified, but they do exist, and we try to responsibly refute them,” Galvin said.

As for the possibility of violence to election workers, Galvin said, “We will make sure that doesn’t happen with adequate police protection (and) security.”

The secretary was in Needham on Saturday to celebrate the start of early voting, which continues through Nov. 1.

Galvin predicted voter turnout this cycle will be similar to the 3.6 million ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election, roughly evenly split across early voting, vote by mail and voting on Election Day, Boston 25 News reported.

More than 1.3 million mail-in ballots have been shipped to voters, and over 425,000 ballots have been returned, Galvin’s office said Friday. Galvin said officials are working closely with the U.S. Postal Service to ensure election mail is prioritized, “We believe they’re going to try to do that — I’m hopeful for that,” Galvin said, as he urged voters to not mail back their ballots within seven days of Election Day. “We’re suggesting you use the community drop box or take the ballot to the local election office. You can’t take it into the polls on Election Day.”