Dude, Where is My Polling Location?

A New Month | New Districts, New Polling Locations | Some Primary Picks

Welcome to September. It feels like it was just July 4, but here we are at Labor Day. Hope you and yours have a fun, wonderful long weekend. Now that September is here, school has started and people are back into working mode, I am sure we will see more news and issues to discuss. 

New Districts, New Polling Locations 

Tomorrow is Primary Day in Massachusetts (Why we have a primary the day after Labor Day is beyond me. This needs to be changed.) and here in Framingham, this is the first Election Day with new districts, precincts and for some, polling locations. The City Clerk’s Office and local campaigns have tried hard to educate voters on all the changes. 

What happened? Every 10 years the Massachusetts Legislature undergoes a redistricting process to reflect changing populations and demographics based on the Census. If you recall, the U.S. Census was in 2020. In 2021, the House and Senate redrew the lines. The Framingham Council, based on recommendations from the City Clerk, redrew the precinct and Council district lines based on census information, and submitted it to the Legislature. This information was cast aside, and the House cut Framingham into 4 legislative districts: 4th Middlesex, 6th Middlesex, 7th Middlesex and 19th Worcester. This led the Clerk and the Council a very small window to scramble to retrofit the precincts and districts they created into the new legislative districts. The whole process lead to some very strange pockets of precincts and changing of voting locations. 

Breaking down where everything is… Here is a map of Framingham with precincts and state legislative districts. Because of the primary, for this explanation I will only stick to information you need for tomorrow. We’ll discuss the new Council districts in a future issue. 

4th Middlesex District: A district we now share with Marlborough, currently represented by Danielle Gregoire. In Framingham, the northwest quadrant, now precincts 21b, 22, 23 are part of this district. 

6th Middlesex: The new minority-majority district is now all of the city south of Route 9 and the area around the YMCA/Shoppers World. Its precincts are 1-8, 10-16. There is no incumbent in this seat. This is the hotly contested race between School Committee Chair Priscila Sousa and former Councilor Margareth Shepard.

7th Middlesex: Jack Lewis’ old district, which included part of South Framingham and Ashland, has been flipped to include most of North Framingham and Ashland. The new 7th includes precincts 9, 17-20, 24-27. 

19th Worcester: A new district, as well, with half of Framingham precinct (I am writing to you from beautiful Precinct 21a!) connected with Southborough, Westborough and Northborough. There is a race here between Democrat Kate Donaghue of Westborough and Republican Jonathan Hostage of Westborough. There are 1231 voters from Framingham in this district.

Now the polling locations are the same for some (like me, I’m still at Brophy) but for others, they may live walking distance from one, but now have to drive to a different part of town. 

Here is the list: 

• P1, 2, 3: Harmony Grove Elementary School

• P4, 5, 6: St. Tarcisius Parish Center

• P7, 8, 9: Keefe Tech

• P10, 11, 15: Farley Building

• P12, 13, 14: Memorial Building

• P16, 17: Wesley Parish Center

• P18, 25, 26: Walsh Middle School

• P19, 20, 21: Brophy Elementary School

• P22, 27: King Elementary School

• P23, 24: Potter Elementary School 

The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office has a great resource: wheredoivotema.com - please check that site out for all your up-to-date information regarding your elected officials and polling locations. It is going to take us all some time to relearn precincts and districts and where to go, but we do have a decade to do so before it all gets changed again!

Some Primary Picks

Elections for political junkies are our Super Bowls…complete with the commercials, outrageous money spent, drama, nail biting, and the occasional musical act. While there is no real primary for Governor on the Democratic ballot, there are a few down the ballot races I’d like to highlight. Please note I am a registered Democrat, so there won’t be any Republican picks in my list. 

Attorney General: Andrea Campbell Andrea and I met years ago while working for Governor Deval Patrick. She was in the Legal Office, while I worked in Press. From day one, I found her to be sensible and passionate, with a wealth of real life experience that gave her a different view on law that many do not possess. The Attorney General’s Office is not for sale, and it is outrageous we have a candidate who is funneling so much personal money into her campaign. Andrea, however, has made her campaign about us as a Commonwealth, and not only about her accomplishments. We would be well served with her as AG. 

Auditor: Christopher Dempsey Like Andrea, Chris and I have known each other since our Patrick Administration days. I do consider him a friend, and one I know will bring the Auditor’s Office to the next level. Chris is also a transportation advocate, which is important to me, and will use his power in the Auditor’s Office to work towards safe, ethical, transparent, reliable transportation around the Commonwealth. I am excited to see him in that role. 

Since I live in “East Southborough”, I will be casting my vote for Kate Donaghue for State Representative. And I am always pleased to vote for Karen Spilka for Senator; her work on mental health and her advocacy for Framingham has made such an impact. I am very thankful she represents us in the Senate. 

Lastly, if I lived in the 6th Middlesex District, I’d cast my vote for Priscila Sousa. As the first woman of color elected School Committee Chair, she brings a new perspective and style to the School Committee. She is a strong advocate for high quality early education for all students, and a new southside school - two issues we need to address here in Framingham that would change the lives of so many of our kids. Priscila in the State House would bring a new energy and focus we need here in Framingham. If you live in the 6th Middlesex, please consider Priscila. 

Good luck to all of the candidates tomorrow. I have been there, so a big hat tip to you. 

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow, if you did not participate in any of the early voting. Your vote is your voice. Please use it.

Until next week…