There’s little competition in next week’s state primaries, but Massachusetts voters appear enthusiastic so far and Secretary of State William Galvin expects turnout to surpass the previous two non-pandemic presidential cycles.
Based on ballots cast so far by mail and in early-voting hours, Galvin on Thursday forecast the primary election will see more than 500,000 Democratic votes and more than 250,000 Republican votes.
“That’s remarkable in light of the fact that there are really few contests,” Galvin told reporters, noting that there are no contested Democratic primaries for Congress.
Most of the interest is based on more local races, Galvin said, where only about one in six state legislative districts feature any kind of contested primary. The secretary attributed some of the uptick to “the effectiveness of vote by mail.”
Galvin also said Thursday that his office has received “multiple reports,” mostly in Middlesex County, of Bay Staters receiving text messages alleging they are not eligible to vote and asking them to click a link.
He stressed it’s not clear whether the text messages are coming from misinformed campaigns or from bad actors attempting to steal personal information. Galvin urged voters not to click on the links and to contact their local elections officials if they receive such messages or have questions about their registration status.
“You don’t register to vote that way, not by text,” he said.
