February 24, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
Town Clerk Carol Falvey has submitted a warrant article to the select board for this year’s annual Town Meeting asking for voter approval to hold future Saturday town elections from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting with the 2026 town election.
The driving factor behind the warrant article is that about 50% of Hingham voters use the Early Vote by Mail option for town elections. If approved, the new hours would apply to town elections only.
Currently, residents can vote in the annual town election using the Early Vote by Mail option prior to the election, or from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day itself (the Saturday following the annual Town Meeting).
“Many of Hingham’s peer communities offer similar hours,” Falvey said. “With so few folks voting between 6 and 8 p.m., it’s time to update our hours to reflect voters’ preferences and to save the town money by offering favored hours.”
The graphs in the link below show the hourly voter turnout for the past two town elections since the Votes Act was passed in June 2022: https://hingham-ma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2045.
For further information or to comment about this proposal, email the town clerk at falveyc@hingham-ma.gov.
This year’s Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 28, and also the following night if business doesn’t wrap up during the first session.