• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Wellesley Square
  • Private schools
  • Camp
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Athlete of the Week
  • Seniors
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

How high can Wellesley voter turnout get?

March 17, 2017 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley votesWe heard and read some grumbling over the past week about the fact that just 22% of registered voters went to the polls last week in Wellesley despite efforts by groups like the League of Women Voters of Wellesley to educate the masses and the fact that there were several contested races, including for two School Committee seats. Looking back at recent voting percentages in town, 22% isn’t bad comparably, but can the town do better?

A strong 86% went to the polls in Wellesley for the contentious Presidential Election in November, but yeah, that was the Presidential Election.

Town Clerk Kathy Nagle says 15%-18% is about average in Wellesley in recent years for town elections, with turnout naturally “quite sensitive” to controversial questions on the ballot or extraordinary effort by candidates to get people to the polls. “I hope this year’s example of multiple contested races for both Boards and Town Meeting is the beginning of a renewed interest in local governance,” she says.

Nearly a third of registered voters went to the polls in Wellesley for last year’s town election, with the town manager vote being the hot item.

18% of voters went to the polls in both 2015 and 2014, and 2013 was a low point at 7% (no contests, no questions). About a quarter of voters had gone to the polls the year before that.

wellesley voting

 

 

A quick look at neighboring towns shows no overwhelming turnouts either. Natick, for example, drew 19.2% of registered voters last March in a year during which town residents had a handful of contested races to mull. That percentage was way up from 8% in 2015 and 7.2% in 2014.

Interestingly, the state tracks voting numbers for town elections across Massachusetts, but you’ve got to plow through a bunch of PDFs to crunch the numbers. Maybe the next time we have a blizzard I’ll take a spin through that and see what the historical highs and lows for Wellesley have been for voter turnout.

print

Share

Filed Under: Politics

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Linden Square, Wellesley
Dedham Country Day School
Wonderful Wellesley, see what's new

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Edge on Science
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Family withdraws plan for large house near Wellesley's Brook Path
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Merchants raise 'Parking, parking, parking' concerns in Wellesley Square; Lockheart Restaurant sign goes up
  • Wellesley public works taking fresh look at RDF give-and-take area
  • The Wellesley aqueduct bathrooms at Hunnewell Field have landed
  • Wellesley POPS Senior Profile: Jessica Klurfeld doubly talented as clarinet player & singer

Upcoming Events

Jul 6
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Open House at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

Jul 16
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Wellesley Square July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale

Jul 19
8:00 am - 9:00 am

Fay School admission information session

Jul 20
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Tour at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

Aug 12
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Fay School admission information session

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Ian on Wellesley Business Buzz: Merchants raise ‘Parking, parking, parking’ concerns in Wellesley Square; Lockheart Restaurant sign goes up
  • Katalin on Wellesley public works taking fresh look at RDF give-and-take area
  • peter of wellesley on Hardy Elementary School project starting to feel more real
  • J on Family withdraws plan for large house near Wellesley’s Brook Path
  • Donna on Wellesley public works taking fresh look at RDF give-and-take area

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • Animals (416)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (577)
  • Beyond Wellesley (47)
  • Books (366)
  • Business (1,503)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (48)
  • Churches (79)
  • Clubs (228)
  • Construction (295)
  • Dump (127)
  • Education (3,108)
    • Babson College (250)
    • Bates Elementary School (16)
    • Dana Hall School (34)
    • Fiske Elementary School (9)
    • Hardy Elementary School (44)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (42)
    • MassBay (55)
    • Schofield Elementary School (24)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (608)
    • Wellesley High School (961)
    • Wellesley Middle School (203)
  • Embracing diversity (69)
  • Entertainment (787)
  • Environment (749)
  • Fashion (141)
  • Finance (14)
  • Fire (162)
  • Food (343)
  • Fundraising (612)
  • Gardens (157)
  • Government (557)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (14)
  • Health (850)
    • COVID-19 (200)
  • Hikes (3)
  • History (388)
  • Holidays (405)
  • Houses (154)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (850)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (6)
  • Letters to the Editor (62)
  • Media (70)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (11)
  • Morses Pond (108)
  • Music (568)
  • Natick Report (29)
  • Neighbors (273)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (73)
  • Outdoors (642)
  • Parenting (62)
  • Police (757)
    • Crime (386)
  • Politics (551)
  • POPS Senior Profile (8)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (331)
  • Religion (131)
  • Restaurants (332)
  • Safety (150)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (120)
  • Shopping (144)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (980)
    • Athlete of the Week (6)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (164)
  • Theatre (392)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (230)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,230)
  • Volunteering (346)
  • Weather (177)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (276)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (19)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed
Deland, Gibson Insurance, Wellesley

© 2022 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login