Published in the June 1, 2020 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — While it has been known for some time that the 2020 Town Election and Annual Town Meeting would be impacted by the response to COVID-19, some specific details were brought to light last week.
Annual Town Meeting has again been rescheduled to Saturday, June 20 and will be held in the Field House at Wakefield Memorial High School. The Town Election will take place three days later, on Tuesday, June 23, with the polls open at the Galvin Middle School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Town Clerk Betsy Sheeran, who handles local elections, and Town Moderator William Carroll, who presides over Town Meeting, appeared before the Town Council during last Thursday’s virtual Zoom meeting to discuss the latest developments.
Sheeran Told the Town Council that the Election Division at the office of the Massachusetts Secretary of State has advised cities and towns that they can limit the time that polls are open Election Day to just four hours.
Sheeran stressed, however, that local voters will have had the option of more than 40 days prior to Election Day when they could take advantage of early voting or request an absentee ballot without having to provide a reason.
For those who vote in person on Election Day, Sheeran said, the voting booths will be spaced six feet apart and any lines for voters waiting to cast ballots will be marked off for social distancing.
Sheeran said that she has been pushing early voting on social media and will also continue promoting the election on social media and in the Daily Item.
“I will sell it the best way I can,” Sheeran assured the board.
Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin urged also using the “Red Alert” reverse phone system and digital sign trailers to notify residents about the election.
Sheeran said that it had already been decided to use the Red Alert system and the digital signs are used for every election.
Sheeran stressed that, particularly under present circumstances, the more people that vote early, the easier it will be on the day of the election.
Regarding Annual Town Meeting, which was originally scheduled for May 4 and then postposed by the Town Council to June 8, Town Moderator William Carroll explained that it will now be rescheduled to Saturday, June 20 in the Field House at Wakefield Memorial High School.
Once the Town Meeting warrant is issued, if there is a need for further postponement, state legislation allows the Town Moderator, in consultation with the Town Council and local health and safety officials, to postpone the Town Meeting for up to another 30 days.
Carroll said that he had consulted with Health Director Ruth Clay and Emergency Management Director Thomas Walsh and made the decision to hold Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, June 20.
The Moderator said that consideration had been given to holding Town Meeting outdoors in a parking lot, but no public parking lots were suitable and the uncertainty of the weather was another factor in the decision.
Carroll noted that he is in regular communication with the Massachusetts Moderators’ Association and that group has provided guidance on setting up chairs in the Field House eight feet apart. There will be sections where immediate family members can sit together, Carroll said.
Everyone attending Town Meeting will be required to wear a mask. Health Director Ruth Clay, who was also at last Thursday’s virtual meeting, said that extra masks will be available for those who show up without one.
Carroll said that based on typical Town Meeting attendance, the Field House should be able to accommodate the crowd, but a satellite room with an assistant moderator will also be available if necessary, for any overflow.
Carroll said that WCAT will utilize a shotgun microphone capable of picking up voices at a distance in order to avoid speakers sharing microphones.
Councilor Jonathan Chines asked if there was some way to accommodate those who, for health reasons, cannot attend Town Meeting. Carroll said that he would look into it, but expressed concerns with respect to logistics and verifying the legitimacy of a hardship.
“Safety and legitimacy are both issues,” Carroll said. He noted that such an accommodation would add another technical challenge of operating a Zoom meeting simultaneously.
Town Counsel Thomas Mullen pointed out that Carroll would need to issue and official declaration changing the date of Annual Town Meeting, and Ruth Clay would need to then file a report with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in order to comply with state statute.
The Town Council voted to authorize Clay to submit such a report to the Attorney General’s Office.
