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Select Board votes to opt out of vote‑by‑mail for October special town election
Summary
After a public hearing, the board voted to opt out of mailing ballots for the Oct. 8 special town election (a wastewater vote), citing potential voter confusion and staff capacity during concurrent presidential mailings.
After a public hearing, the Dennis Select Board voted to opt out of sending vote‑by‑mail ballots for the Oct. 8 special town election, which the board said will accompany a wastewater measure at the town meeting.
Town Clerk Terry Bunce outlined operational concerns, telling the board the town could be preparing roughly 4,000 special‑election ballots and simultaneously handling about 7,000 presidential ballots. "We're looking at possibly... mailing out about 4,000 ballots," Bunce said, adding that mailing overlapping ballots raised risks of voters placing ballots in the wrong envelopes and negating returns. Bunce said the opt‑out would not eliminate absentee voting or in‑person voting.
After the hearing was closed, a motion was made under the 2022 act to opt out of vote‑by‑mail for the October election. The motion passed by voice vote; the transcript records the board saying "Aye." The board emphasized that opting out applied to the vote‑by‑mail process for this special local election and does not prevent in‑person or absentee ballots.
The board invited the public to attend a June 18 public hearing (notice) and said remote participation information is available on the posted agenda. Staff will follow standard notice rules for the change in voting procedure.
