May 13, 2021 by Carol Britton Meyer
Every vote counts!
The Town Election, featuring five races, is scheduled for Saturday, May 22. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for in-person voting.
Absentee and mail-in voting is also available (see link below). The deadline for registering to vote for the Town Election was May 12. Hingham has 18,864 registered voters.
Town Clerk Eileen McCracken, who is retiring this year, predicts about a 20 to 25 percent overall voter participation rate, even with five races. "We usually get a 20 percent or less voter turnout for town elections," she told the Hingham Anchor.
As of Thursday, May 13, the Town Clerk's office had sent out 26 absentee ballots, with 17 returned so far. In addition, of 271 vote-by-mail ballots sent to voters at their request, 88 had come back, with more expected to be returned.
The deadline for submitting vote-by-mail ballot requests is May 18. Ballots must be returned to the Town Clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.
Ballots may be mailed or placed in the drop-box at the end of the Town Hall driveway. "We will check the box throughout the day on May 22 and also at 8 p.m., when the polls close," McCracken said.
Here's what's happening.
Races: select board, town clerk, board of health, municipal light board, and board of assessors.
Candidates:
- Selectman -- Liz Klein, Michelle Parned, and Joseph Kelly. Select Board Chair Mary Power is not running for another term.
- Town Clerk -- Libby Lewiecki (current School Committee member), Carol Falvey, Thomas Patch, and Laura Marwill.
- Board of Health -- Incumbent Peter Bickford and Johanna Burwell.
- Board of Assessors -- Joshua Ross and incumbent Carlton M. ("Al") Chambers.
- Light Board -- Laura Burns and Incumbent John Stoddard, Jr.
- School Committee -- Incumbent Kerry Ni and Tim Miller-Dempsey are the candidates for the two available seats.
Dwight Hartman is the sole candidate for Recreation Commission. Incumbent Bruce Thompson did not take out papers.
Clark Frazier is the only candidate for sewer commission. Incumbent Robert Higgins did not pull papers for another term.
The following incumbents are running unopposed:
- Town Moderator Michael Puzo
- Planning Board member Gary Tondorf-Dick.
Precincts and voting locations:
- Precincts 1-4 - Hingham High School, 17 Union Street
- Precincts 5-6 - Hingham Middle School, 1103 Main Street
- Precinct 5A - Willard Square, Linden Ponds
Visit https://www.hingham-ma.