Update: The article was updated with time and date for mail in ballots
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FRAMINGHAM – A week from today, October 26, is election day in the City of Framingham.
On Tuesday, November 2, voters will elect a mayor for 4 years, 9 District City Councilors for 2 years, 9 District School Committee members for 2 years, 6 library Trustees for 4 years and 3 Cemetery Trustees.
The most widely-known race is the one for Mayor. In November 2017, Yvonne Spicer was elected to become the city’s first-ever mayor. Now she wants voters to re-elect her for a second term.
Challenging her is former City Councilor and Selectman Charlie Sisitsky, a retired Town of Natick DPW Director.
SOURCE asked both candidates a series of questions, that were Framingham-specific and very detailed. You can read Sisitsky’s answers here. Spicer chose not to respond to the Q&A.
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Assistant City Clerk Emily Butler said there are 39,928 registered voters for this election.
Polls will be open on Tuesday, November 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Don’t know what Precinct or District you are in? Don’t know where to vote? Click here.
This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, voters could request a ballot by mail.
Assistant City Clerk Butler said there were 1,987 mail in ballots mailed to registered voters.
And as of this morning, less than 900 have been returned.
As of today, October 26, the Assistant City Clerk is recommending that voters do not mail in their ballot but to drop it off in one of three locations.
Drop off mail in ballots at:
- City Clerk’s office at the Memorial Building, 150 Concord Street.
- Drop off box outside of City Hall. It is monitored by video and police.
- Drop off box outside of the Christa McAuliffe Library branch on Water Street. It is also monitored.
- DO NOT drop off mail in ballots at your normal voting location on election day.
If you have not requested a mail in ballot, the deadline to request one is Wednesday, October 27 at 5 p.m.
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But you can still request an absentee ballot if you will not be able to vote in person on November 2.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Wednesday, October 27 at 5 p.m. You can request one in person at the clerk’s office or online.
Massachusetts allows voters to vote by absentee ballot if they:
- Will be absent from Framingham on Election Day (Military, U.S. Citizens living overseas)
- Have a physical disability that prevents one from voting at the polling location
- Cannot vote at the polls due to a religious belief.
For an absentee ballot application, click here.
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City Council races
Back to the election, there are five contested City Council races out of the 9 City Council districts.
Two current District City Councilors Robert Case in District 5 and Margareth Shepard in District 7 chose not to seek re-election.
Current Councilors Christine Long in District 1, Mike Cannon in District 4, Phil Ottaviani Jr. in District 6 and John Stefanini in District 8 are running unopposed.
Editor’s Note: SOURCE sent a Q&A to each of the four candidates. Half responded. If they responded there name is bold and blue and hyperlinked to their answers.
The following districts – 2, 3, 5, 7, & 9 have contested races.
In District 2, Councilor Cesar Stewart Morales is being challenged by law student Jake Binnall.
In District 3, Councilor Adam Steiner is being challenged by small business owner and SIFOC Vice Chair Mary Kate Feeney.
In District 5, two former School Committee members are running for City Council. They are Noval Alexander and Cheryl Gordon.
In District 7, immigrant and healthcare worker Magda Janus and executive director of Beantown Jewish Gardens Leora Mallach are vying for the City Council seat.
Finally in District 9, the first-ever City Council for District 9 Edgardo Torres is challenging current Councilor Tracey Bryant for the 2-year seat.
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School Committee – no races on the ballot.
The Framingham School Committee is comprised of 9 District members elected every 2 years.
Incumbent School Committee members Geoffrey Epstein in District 6 and Scott Wadland in District 3 announced they would not seek re-election this spring.
On the ballot, voters will see all the races are uncontested.
But in District 9 there is a write-in candidate Scott Hayes challenging the incumbent member Will LaBarge.
SOURCE sent a Q&A to all of the School Committee candidates on the ballot. Some chose not to respond to the questionaire.
District 1 – Beverly Hugo – up for re-election
District 2 – Ricky Finlay
District 3 – Jenn Moshe
District 4 – Adam Freudberg – up for re-election
District 5 – Priscila Sousa – up for re-election
District 6 – Valerie Ottaviani
District 7 Tiffanie Maskell – up for re-election
District 8 – Jessica Barnhill – up for re-election
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Library & Cemetery Trustee Races
There are eight individuals on the ballot for 6 Framingham Library Trustee seats on November 2.
Half of the members of the Framingham Board of Trustee seats will be elected in 2021 for a 4-year term.
Two individuals on the ballot are seeking re-election to the Board of Trustees.
They are current Board chair Ruth Winett and Steven Malchman.
Since the last election two Trustees resigned and two individuals were appointed to fulfill the rest of that term by a joint vote of the City Council and the Framingham Library Trustees. Those individuals are Heather Klish and Millie Gonzalez. Klish is on the ballot seeking election to the Board. Gonzalez chose not to run.
The individuals, in order of when they pulled nomination papers, are:
( If an individual’s name is hyperlinked, it will take you to their candidacy announcement per the SOURCE election policy. All candidates were invited to submit an announcement on why they are running. Only 4 submitted.)
- Trustee Ruth Winett
- Trustee Steven Malchman
- Trustee Heather Klish
- Isabella Petroni
- Trent Matthew Fortner
- Jenny Dimouro Dearcangeus
- Heather E.E. Woods
- Leslie White Harvey
Editor’s Note: As the SOURCE editor/publisher is related to one of the candidates, there is no election coverage of the race, beyond the opportunity for all 8 candidates to submit an announcement on why they are running by July 31. Four of the 8 candidates submitted an announcement.
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There are three candidates for three 4-year terms on as Framingham Cemetery Trustee. They are:
- Dennis Cardiff – up for re-election
- Nick Paganella
- Julie Ann Dickson-Ferrari
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