BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts voters waited in sub-freezing temperatures Friday for the last day of early in-person voting, during which more than 46 percent of the state's voters cast their ballots.
Early voting in Massachusetts started on October 17th. Out of more than 2.5 million voters who were provided an early ballot, close to 90 percent had returned it by Friday evening. Around 130,000 early ballots were returned to the state since yesterday.
By 4 p.m. Friday, more than 1.3 million ballots had been returned by mail, and more than 934,000 early ballots had been cast in-person.
Officials said the deadline to mail in any ballots has now passed, so anyone with a completed mail-in ballot must return it either in-person, or at a verified dropbox location. Voters planning to drop off their ballots in a dropbox this weekend are being asked to do it before 2 p.m. Saturday.
Read More: Boston Voters Line Up In Snow For Last Day Of In-Person Early Voting
Due to security concerns, the Secretary of the Commonwealth has issued a directive urging all municipalities to empty and lock all ballot dropboxes no later than 5 p.m. Saturday until 12 p.m. Sunday. When they are reopened on Sunday November 1st, the dropboxes will be available 24/7 through 8 p.m. Tuesday November 3rd.
According to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office, the number of ballots cast right now is equal to two-thirds of all ballots cast in the state in the 2016 election.
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