Natick 2021 Spring Election Voting Guide

Natick MA

27 March, 2021

9:35 AM

Description

NATICK, MA — Voters in Natick will head to the polls on Tuesday for the 2021 town election, which will feature two contested races for town-wide office, a ballot question, town meeting candidates and several uncontested races. Due to the pandemic, Natick voters are allowed to cast absentee ballots to avoid going to the polls. But the town will also offer five in-person voting sites on Tuesday. If you're not sure if you're registered to vote, you can check your voting status on the Secretary of State's website. Here's everything you need to know about the candidates running in 2021, and how to vote. In-person voting Polls will be open in Natick from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. The town will offer five polling places, depending on your precinct. Natick High School, 15 West St. — Precincts 1, 2 and 3Wilson Middle School, 22 Rutledge Road — Precincts 4 and 5Lilja School, 41 Bacon St. — Precinct 6Community Senior Center, 117 East Central St. — Precincts 7, 9 and 10Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central St. — Precinct 8 Don't know where you should vote? Check the Secretary of State's website. Absentee voting The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot passed on March 24. If you received one already, you can mail it to the Town Clerk. It must be received by March 30, or it won't count. The best option would be to put your mail-in ballot in the drop box outside Town Hall. The box closes at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Who's running There are nine races on the 2021 ballot, but only two — School Committee and Select Board — are contested. There's also a ballot question that would change the information given to Town Meeting during the annual budget process. There are also Town Meeting member races in each precinct. In the Select Board race, two candidates are vying for the seat Select Board Chair Jonathan Freedman is vacating. Two incumbents are running to keep their seats on the School Committee, and a challenger has stepped in to possibly unseat one of them. Here are the candidates on the ballot. Click the links in the School Committee and Select Board races to read candidate questionnaires. Select Board (pick one) Guimel DeCarvalhoPaul Joseph School Committee (pick two) Matthew Brand (i)Shai Fuxman (i)Catherine Brunell Planning Board Andrew Meyer (i) Recreation and Parks Commission Kelly McPherson (i) Morse Institute Library Trustees Carol Gloff Board of Assessors Molly Reed (i) Board of Health Peter Delli Colli (i) Natick Housing Authority David Parish Constable No candidates Ballot Question Yes or No This ballot question would amend the section of the Town Charter dealing with fiscal procedures. A "yes" vote would make the following changes: Require information about assets and liabilities be included as part of the budget message to Town Meeting. Add a new part of Section 5 of the Town Charter stating, "The representative Town Meeting may, by by-law, require an updated budget message and certain information to be provided in connection with annual operating and/or capital expenditures budgets for a current fiscal year at Spring Annual Town, Fall Annual Town Meeting and for any special town meeting [that] deals with fiscal or budgetary matters."Renumber Section 5 to add "Section 5-8, Capital Improvement Program."