BOSTON — On the cusp of the World Series, there may not be baseball at 108-year-old Fenway Park, but there is plenty of action. The ballpark led off day one of early voting in Boston.
“Being able to vote in such an important election in such an important place in Boston is really special,” said Lauren Schultes of South Boston.
Voting began at 11 a.m., and the line went from Gate A, the main entrance to Fenway Park on Jersey Street, all the way around to Gate E on Lansdowne Street.
Some waited an hour or more to get to the voting booths inside. The line was staggering to others.
“I thought, ‘let’s go get some drinks first because we’re going to need it,’” Schultes joked.
Sox fanatics like Evan Ramsey not only showed up to vote in person, but even went so far as to wear a jersey, as though it were a game day.
“There’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote in Fenway Park, might as well rep the team,” Ramsey said.
Voters were asked to wear masks and maintain social distance. Once inside, voters checked-in at one table, then went to another to sign for their ballot, before heading to the voting booth. Finally, they handed the ballot in at the checkout station.
>>>MORE: How to vote by mail and track your ballot in Massachusetts
The city’s elections commissioner told Boston 25 News that, normally, there is one warden per polling site; but for a ballpark voting venue, there are three in addition to election officials overseeing the process.
After voting, people had a chance to take a picture in the stands along left field side of the park.
Natalia Krupitsay uses two canes to help her walk and had no problems waiting for the chance to vote. She said it had nothing to do with the Red Sox, but a commitment to voting.
“I don’t like baseball,” Krupitsay stated.
Related: Election 2020: Mass. early voting dates, locations
Voting continues at Fenway Park until 7 p.m. Saturday and goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday and is only open to Boston residents. During the first weekend of early voting, there are ten polling sites across the city.
“Today, there was a total of 9,772 ballots cast in-person at the early voting locations,” the City of Boston said in a press release Saturday. “2,293 of these voters chose Fenway Park as their polling place. As of Thursday, October 16, Boston had 423,668 registered voters.”
On Sunday, the city gave further updates, saying that 7,487 ballots were cast at in-person early voting centers across Boston that day. Of those ballots cast, 2,201 were done so at Fenway Park.
Voter Resources:
- View My Ballot
- Register to Vote Online
- Am I Registered to Vote?
- Where Do I Vote?
- Find My Drop Box
- Track My Ballot
- Mail-in Registration Form
- Automatic Voter Registration
- Massachusetts Districts
Vote by mail steps:
- Request your mail-in ballot through www.mailmyballotma.com or with a mail ballot application.
- Fill out the application completely.
- Submit the request online through www.mailmyballotma.com or to your local election office. You should request your ballot as far in advance of the election as possible. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is (received by) 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.
- When your ballot arrives, read it carefully and follow the instructions to complete it and return it.
- Track your ballot
There are currently 193 ballot drop boxes across the state. Click here to find a ballot drop box location near you.
The state has a full list of election tools for voters on its Election Page.