Wareham residents put their civic sense of duty on display during this year’s town election on Tuesday, May 7, as more than double the number of voters turned out for this year’s town elections in Wareham compared to the year before. Additionally, over half of those who cast their ballots chose to do so via mail. 

A total of 1,933 people turned out for this year’s election, according to Interim Town Clerk Lisa Johnson, compared to 734 voters in the town election held May 2023. This was a turn out of approximately 10% this year, compared to approximately 4% last year. 

The town clerk’s office mailed out 2,570 mail-in ballots and received back 1,105, or 43%, according to the office. It also mailed out 48 absentee ballots and received back 37 of those. 

“I wasn’t expecting as many to come back as did,” said Interim Town Clerk Lisa Johnson. 

Voters received mail-in ballots based on their responses to a card sent out by the elections division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth office, which asked them to pick if they wanted a ballot for the next statewide election or for all elections this year. 

Johnson said she expected many voters to tick “all elections” without intending to vote in their local election. 

For absentee ballots, voters had to fill in a form stating they would not be able to make the polls on election day. 

A lot of towns have opted out of mail-in ballots as an option for local elections, leaving absentee ballots as the only option for remote participation, according to Johnson. 

According to a Secretary of the Commonwealth information page, cities and towns can opt out by a vote of the city council or select board. 

The choice reflects “your community [and] how your select board wants the community to feel about voting,” she said. “It can be a good thing, because it gets [people] more engaged.”