Amherst Biennial Town Elections took place on Nov. 7 in the seven polling locations for the 10 registered precincts. Voters filled out ballot measures for town council, school committee and the Jones Library.

The elections will decide three positions on the Town Council, five School Committee seats and the representatives for 10 district Town Council seats. This year, Amherst locals can either vote early (via mail-in ballots or in person) or on the election day itself.

According to Town Clerk Susan Audette, in-person early voting at Town Hall was “very light,” with 409 voters in five days. The clerk’s office mailed out 2,081 ballots, 1,117 of which have been returned. Audette added that there are 13,700 registered voters and about 15 percent of voters requested ballots.

“I get asked quite frequently…what I believe the turnout will be and I really have no way of knowing,” Audette said.

Asa Stanley-Kemler, an election constable part of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service (CRESS) program, said that their role involves “keeping the peace,” where they monitor for any harassment of voters, picketing at the polls or campaigning too close to the polling station entrance, all prohibited per state law.

Other duties include directing voters to the corresponding table for ballot registration to ensure they know their precinct.

“Everything’s been very smooth,” Stanley-Kemler said, as a first-time employee working in the town election.

After the polls close, Stanley-Kemler said that the ballots are taken by CRESS and distributed to the town clerk’s office.

Election warden Tim Neale has been an Amherst resident for over 35 years and has worked at municipal polling stations for over five years.

As a result of COVID-19, early voting by mail is a popular option, noted Neale.

“We have found that in this town and all these districts, there are fewer people actually coming to vote on the day of the election,” he said.

Neale oversees the entire election process and said that voters will show up and not be on the voter list, but they are still allowed to vote.

In 2021, Amherst precincts underwent redistricting and Neale said that this resulted in confusion from some voters about polling locations.

“I would say it’s obviously much slower than a presidential election,” Neale added. “The big difference we see in this election is we don’t see very many students.”

Ballots are counted electronically, and there are also special machines for mentally and physically disabled voters. Voters can also receive a new ballot.

Lisa Kent has been living in Amherst for 20 years and voted at Amherst Pelham Regional High School.

“[Voting] is a gift and we take it for granted…in times when fascism is looming large we really need to exercise our right to vote even in an election this local, the stakes are actually pretty large,” Kent said.

School governance, school construction and zoning laws are the three main reasons why Kent decided to vote during the town election. “I have to say I wanted incumbents because we are kind of in a turbulent time and I think…politics in Amherst are difficult or can be difficult,” Kent added.

Lillian Pentecost, another Amherst resident, decided to vote to learn more about the candidates and to get involved with local politics: “We don’t have kids in the school system, but I can imagine there are a lot of discussions right now about what’s going on at the school level.”

“I don’t think we are in any strong disagreement with any current positions, but you know civic duty and all that, so we’ll come stop by and vote,” she added.

Sean Forester found it difficult to find information about the candidates. “We found materials like that if we got handouts or mailers about specific candidates then we were able to learn about them.”

“I am very concerned that the environment at the school be very inclusive,” added Cynthia Mentzer, another Amherst resident.

As for the results, Neale explained that an unofficial count will be posted on the door of each polling location. The numbers will be sent to the town clerk to be totaled and the official count will be declared in the following days.

Mahidhar Sai Lakkavaram can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Mahidhar_sl. Olivia Capriotti can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @CapriottiOlivia. Grace Lee can be reached at [email protected]. Manas Pandit can be reached at [email protected].