Becoming a Wellesley Town Meeting Member is a big responsibility and we appreciate all those who run and serve.  It requires reading the warrant of articles to be discussed and voted on at Town Meeting, and also knowing how the town operates in general.

The League of Women Voters of Wellesley’s Town Government Handbook for FY21 covers how town government is supposed to work, the town’s financial structure, and guidelines for how town reps should conduct themselves.

Annual Town Meeting will begin on Monday, April 26, and will take place via videoconferencing due to the pandemic.

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The most important numbers from Wellesley’s townwide and town meeting election were released last week, but now we have a fresh set of data that you might also find interesting.

During this past week’s election, total turnout was 27% of active voters in town. Of those who voted, 74% did so by mail and 26% voted in person on March 2.

Residents had the option to vote by mail, no excuses required. Prior to COVID-19, the town offered voting by mail only for absentee voters who were required to be out of town or unable to vote in person due to a disability, according to Wellesley Town Clerk KC Kato.

“Our requests tended to be between 400-1,300 ballots (highest during the presidential elections),” she says.

Here’s how the Voted by Mail (VBM) or Voted Early vs. In-Person Vote split has broken down during the pandemic:

• June 13, 2020: 91%/9%
• September 1, 2020: 77% (VBM or voted early)/23% in-person
• November 3, 2020: 85% (VBM or voted early)/15% in-person
• December 1, 2020: 91%/9%
• March 2, 2021: 74%/26%

Note: Voted By Mail and Voted Early (when required by the State) at the Council on Aging are combined as the town’s database is unable to separate those two methods.

Whether such unbalanced splits would continue in a post-pandemic state remains to be seen, if expanded mail-in voting continues.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin and some state lawmakers are looking to make expanded mail-in voting permanent in the state.

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Incumbent Colette Aufranc retains her Select Board seat and Ann-Mara Lanza joins the board based on election results released by the Wellesley Town Clerk’s office. Aufranc this past September joined the board by winning a special election to replace a member who moved out of town.

Update (3/5/21): Here are final election results for townwide offices and ballot question, as well as for town meeting members. We’ve updated this post and the  embedded documents, too, which originally were unofficial preliminary election results.

Just over a quarter of Wellesley’s active voters cast ballots either by mail or in person to culminate a tense election season.

Odessa Sanchez, who lost her bid for one of the two open Select Board seats, tallied the most votes for one of the two Wellesley Housing Authority five-year terms up for grabs. Incumbent Janice Coduri earned the votes  for the other open seat. Micah O’Neil finished third.

In the other contested race, Scott Bender remains on the Board of Public Works, securing a three-year term.

On the non-binding referendum regarding the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Wellesley, some 49% of voters said Yes, 43% No, and 8% left the box blank. Six of eight precincts voted Yes.

The Committee for Indigenous Peoples Day issued this statement following the results being made public: “The preliminary results are in, and you did it! Your voice and your vote sent a clear message on election day, that the town of Wellesley stands in solidarity and support for Indigenous Peoples in our community and beyond. When we asked for your endorsements you put a name to your vote. When we called for volunteers you showed up. When we were out in the streets you honked, applauded, and brought us Dunkin! For all this and more we are forever grateful.”

The Committee to Preserve Wellesley’s Italian American Heritage had campaigned to defeat the non-binding ballot question, arguing that the second Monday in October should celebrate Italian American heritage, wth Indigenous People being honored in November.

The organization issued a statement after the results were made public: “We thank all of our supporters! Close to two thousand voices spoke up in favor of unity, inclusion, and tolerance and should not be silenced. Send your letters and make your phone calls to the Select Board, asking them to honor the Town’s Tolerance Pledge. Every culture should feel welcome in Wellesley. Honor Italian American heritage and, by extension, all immigrants on the second Monday in October, and honor Indigenous Peoples during the month of November.”

(Question #1: “Should the Select Board, with the understanding that since 1977 Indigenous people of our country have requested Indigenous Peoples Day as a recognition of their humanity, culture, and history and further, that our country was built on Native lands, proclaim the second Monday of October henceforth be commemorated as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and cease to recognize Columbus Day in Wellesley in recognition of the position of Indigenous Peoples as natives to these lands, and the suffering they faced during and after the European conquest? This question is not binding.”)

Thanks to all who ran, campaigned, and voted.

Correction (3/3/21): We’ve updated the voting %s on the ballot question from an earlier miscalculation that didn’t take blank votes into consideration. Sorry for the error.

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