Massachusetts Votes in Super Tuesday Primary| 11:27AM / Monday, March 05, 2012 | |
Massachusetts gets its chance to weigh in on presidential aspirations on Super Tuesday, March 6, with former Gov. Mitt Romney leading the Republican pack and Lexington's Jill Stein on the Green/Rainbow Party ballot.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all communities. Find your polling station here.
President Barack Obama is the only name on the ballot for the Democratic primary. There are more choices on the Republican ballot but many of those candidates have already dropped out of the nomination race.
Still in the running is, of course, Romney and Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and New Gingrich. Paul is a current congressman from Texas; Santorum is a former Pennsylvania senator and Gingrich, of Georgia, is a former speaker of the House. On the ballot but no longer in the race are Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann.
On the Green/Rainbow ballot are Stein, a physician and past gubernatorial candidate; Kent Mesplay, a California Green Party delegate and air quality control inspector; and Harley Mikkelson, a retired Michigan state employee.
Voters should understand that these are three separate primaries, and their registered party affiliation determines which one they can vote in.
"Voters who are registered in the Democratic Party are only able to receive a Democratic ballot," according to North Adams City Clerk Marilyn Gomeau, who said voters can find the state's primary rules confusing. "Republicans, only a Republican ballot. Green/Rainbow only a Green/Rainbow ballot."
Only unenrolled voters, so-called independents, can choose which primary they wish to vote in.
The greatest number of registered party members in Berkshire County are Democrats. According to the secretary of state's office, of the 82,057 registered voters in the county, more than a third are Democrats (32,348). The number of Republicans is 8,250, less than 10 percent, with Green/Rainbow trailing at 210.
More than half of all registered voters, 45,720, are not enrolled in any party.
Voters will also be selecting a State Committee man and a State Committee woman for each state senatorial district and Ward Committees.
Vermont also goes to the primary polls on Super Tuesday, which falls this year on Town Meeting Day. Vermont voters can select either the Republican or the Democratic primary ballot. This year, 17-year-olds may also vote in the Vermont primary as long as they turn 18 before the Nov. 6 election.
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