Published February 27, 2020

NORTH READING — Town Clerk Barbara Stats asks voters to be aware of the potential for a higher-level of participation in next Tuesday’s Presidential Primary, especially during traffic peaks at certain times of the day.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Peak times usually occur at the opening of the polls when many people are voting before going to work (between 7 and 9 a.m.) and toward the evening when many people are voting as they return from work or after dinner (between 5 and 8 p.m.), according to Stats. “In particular, morning traffic may impact both voters traveling to the polls, as well as parents who are driving students to school,” she said.

Those who are able to vote in-between these peak times should find less traffic on Routes 62 and 28 traveling to St. Theresa’s Parish Hall, 63 Winter St., which is the location of the town’s centralized voting place for all four precincts. More parking spaces would be available in the church parking lot, as well as less congestion and shorter lines within the church hall to the polls.

Voters arriving at the end of the day must be inside the church hall by 8 p.m. in order to vote – the polls officially close at 8 p.m. under state law.

“Your advance awareness of these circumstances should make your voting experience a more pleasant one,” said Stats.