Residents in four area communities will decide a series of races for local public office when they head to the polls Tuesday, while Easthampton voters will weigh in on ranked-choice voting and other ballot questions and Holyokers will decide whether to fund construction of two new middle schools.
In Northampton, Amherst, Holyoke and Easthampton, voters can cast ballots between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Northampton City Clerk Pamela Powers said weather could factor into how many people participate, with clear and dry weather likely to bring out more voters than cloudy and wet conditions. The weather Tuesday is expected to be in the mid-50s with clouds.
“I’m hoping it will be at least 30 percent,” Powers said of turnout, adding that she and her staff will be ready for however many voters take part.
Wards 1, 5 and 7 have contested elections for seats on the City Council. When the dust settles, there will be four or five new councilors, as newcomers are running unopposed in Wards 2 and 4.
On the School Committee, three residents are seeking two at-large seats, and there are also races in Wards 3 and 5.
In other races, five candidates are running for three positions on the Forbes Library board of trustees.
There is no mayoral election this year.
Easthampton City Clerk Barbara LaBombard is projecting a turnout of around 35 percent, based on her observation of 2005 when there was a similar election with no contested mayoral race but a ballot question that year related to school projects.
Five residents are seeking four councilor-at-large seats, and two residents are vying for the District 2 council position.
LaBombard said there are ballot questions related to having ranked-choice voting, or instant-runoff, for future mayoral and district councilor elections, and having the mayor serve a four-year term beginning Jan. 3, 2022. A fourth question, which is nonbinding, is related to the city forming a municipal light plant for the purpose of operating a telecommunications system.
“It’s the questions people might be interested in,” LaBombard said.
Amherst has only a contested election for School Committee, with seven residents seeking the five available slots. In the first odd-year election in Amherst, no Town Council seats, either at large or in any of the five districts, are up for election.
Amherst often has a lower turnout than other area communities because of the large number of registered voters, including many college students who register only so they participate in presidential elections.
Holyoke has both contested elections for office and a ballot question about building two new middle schools, each about 105,400 square feet and for 550 students. Voters are being presented a question to approve a debt-exclusion override for the $130 million project, which would receive $75.8 million from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. A Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion override would cover the remaining $54 million.
There are also a series of races, with 12 residents competing for six at large City Council seats, as well as contests for council in Ward 3, Ward 4 and Ward 5 and School Committee in Ward 3 and Ward 4.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
