In Massachusetts, all absentee and early voting ballots are counted at the precincts on election day. That includes ballots submitted by mail or drop box and ballots completed during in-person early voting. On Election Day, the drop boxes will be emptied regularly and ballots received before 5:00 p.m. will be sent to the precincts to be counted.  

On Election Night, the Clerk’s Office will publish the unofficial election results including only the ballots counted at the precincts. Unofficial results will be updated later to include the ballots counted by hand on election night.  

Ballots received in drop boxes between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Election Day and ballots received in the mail from inside the US by Nov. 8th (postmarked on or before Nov. 5th) by Nov. will be counted by Clerk Staff and precinct workers on Tuesday, Nov. 12th in the Town Hall Auditorium starting at 9:00 a.m.  The ballots will be checked in using the same poll pads used on election day to verify a ballot has not already been received from the voter. Unofficial results will be updated following this post-election count. 

Ballots submitted electronically from overseas and active military voters are hand-counted in the Town Clerk’s Office after the polls close on Election Day.  Ballots mailed from outside the US (postmarked by Nov. 5th) can be accepted until Nov. 15th and will be counted by the Board of Registars on Nov. 18th at 4:45 p.m. Official results will be published after this meeting and must be certified by November 20, 2024.