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Voting

    ELECTION RECAP

    County Question 6 and District Question 7 Both Fail

    No clear sentiment on wind power in state Senate race, says Cyr

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Alongside choices for president, Congress, the state legislature, and five statewide ballot questions, voters on the Outer and Lower Cape had two more choices to make on Election Day: Question 6, which would have increased and reaffirmed the budgeting authority of the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates if it had passed, and Question 7, which directed the state representative for the 4th Barnstable District to “support offshore and onshore wind power developments in Massachusetts.”

    Preliminary returns from all 15 towns on Cape Cod show that Question 6 lost by about 3,800 votes — a relatively close contest. The “yes” campaign got 59,475 votes, or about 40 percent of the county-wide total, while the “no” campaign won 63,287 votes, or about 43 percent of the electorate. More than 25,000 voters left Question 6 blank on their ballots — six times the margin that decided the contest.

    Question 6 won in five towns, with narrow victories of less than 100 votes in four of them: Truro, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster. The “yes” campaign posted its best numbers in Provincetown, where there were almost twice as many yes as no votes: 1,377 to 716.

    The “no” campaign won relatively narrow majorities in Dennis, Yarmouth, and Barnstable, but won by almost 1,000 votes in Sandwich, almost 1,300 in Falmouth, and about 500 in Chatham. Wellfleet voted against Question 6 by 95 votes.

    As a result of the vote on Question 6, the Assembly’s budget powers, which are defined in the county charter, are unchanged. A charter review is supposed to begin next year.

    Question 7 Fails

    Question 7 on the ballot was an unusual “public policy question” asking voters to direct their state representative to vote a certain way on a policy question. It would have had no legally binding effect. The referendum failed by almost 1,400 votes.

    The question was written by John Leonard, a Hingham resident who told the Independent he has “no economic interest in wind power” but wanted to measure support for offshore wind on the Outer and Lower Cape. The question asked voters in the 4th Barnstable District — the four Outer Cape towns plus Orleans, Chatham, and Harwich — to favor “legislation that would support the development of SouthCoast Wind and Commonwealth Wind and other possible future offshore and onshore wind power developments in Massachusetts.”

    Before Election Day, state Sen. Julian Cyr said it was “a deceptive question” because the state legislature has no role in awarding contracts for offshore wind development.

    Nonetheless, many fewer voters skipped ballot Question 7, according to preliminary returns in the seven towns where it was on the ballot.

    The measure passed by 986 votes in Provincetown: 1,701 voted yes and 715 voted no. The margins in Truro, Wellfleet, and Orleans were relatively narrow: Question 7 lost by 57 votes in Truro and 121 votes in Wellfleet and won by 14 votes in Orleans.

    But Question 7 lost by about 300 votes in Eastham, more than 700 in Chatham, and more than 1,100 in Harwich.

    Across all seven towns, Question 7 was approved by 44 percent of voters and rejected by 49 percent, with 7 percent, or almost 2,200 voters, skipping the question.

    In a tally of only Outer Cape voters, the numbers were exactly reversed: 49 percent voted for Question 7 and 44 percent voted against it. The large losses in Chatham and Harwich defeated the measure.

    Given the peculiar wording of the question — mandating that a state legislator vote for nonexistent legislation — its nonbinding nature, and the relatively even split in votes, “it’s hard to see some sort of definitive anti-wind sentiment in this outcome,” said Cyr.

    Cyr Defeats Lauzon

    Another contest that had no direct effect on the future of wind power in Massachusetts but was seen as a potential referendum on the issue by some voters was the race between incumbent state Sen. Julian Cyr and his Republican challenger, Christopher Lauzon.

    Lauzon had challenged Cyr in 2022, but opposition to offshore wind power was a more prominent issue in Lauzon’s campaign this year. “No on Question 7” signs and “Vote for Chris Lauzon” signs were often seen together on the Outer Cape, especially in Cyr’s hometown of Truro.

    As in 2022, Lauzon did not win in any towns this year — but he ran ahead of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump by one percentage point in Orleans, Harwich, and Brewster. Lauzon ran two points ahead of Trump in Chatham and four points, or 75 votes, ahead of Trump in Truro. Lauzon won 14.5 percent in Truro in 2022 and 24 percent there this year.

    In Wellfleet, Eastham, and Provincetown, however, Lauzon’s vote share was almost identical to Trump’s this year and did not change significantly from his vote share in 2022.

    Because Lauzon’s vote share changed in Truro but not in Wellfleet or Eastham, Cyr told the Independent, he thought the results there were more about housing than wind power.

    “I expect this slight diminution in Truro has more to do with how vocal I have been at the local level on housing than with any trend regarding offshore wind,” Cyr said. “If you look at precincts in Osterville and Centerville where wind infrastructure is actually being planned or installed, I carried those precincts this year, and if you look at Nantucket, where the issue is most prominent, my support has remained around 66 percent.”

    Other incumbent state legislators on Cape Cod likewise didn’t seem to face significant erosion of support due to wind power, Cyr said. “In poring over these results,” he said, “I don’t see consistent voter trends that relate to offshore wind.”

    Lauzon said he thought wind power had motivated some voters to switch away from Cyr but added that organizing matters. Truro’s Republican town committee is more organized than Eastham’s, Lauzon said, while Wellfleet doesn’t have a Republican town committee. “Question 7 really came out of nowhere,” Lauzon said. If there had been time to “hammer that offshore wind message a little harder, maybe we would have picked up some more of those votes.”

    ELECTIONS

    Outer Cape Voters Turned Out for State Primary

    Almost no races were contested; Luddy wins Democratic nomination for state House

    By

    EASTHAM — Roughly a quarter of the registered voters in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham participated in the state’s primary election this year on Tuesday, Sept. 3 but included more than a week of early in-person voting and the option to request a mail-in ballot.

    Eastham voters cast their ballots for the state primary election at town hall on Sept. 3. (Photo by Aden Choate)

    The participation rate may seem low by Outer Cape standards, but there were no contested races on this year’s Democratic Party ballot and only one on the Republican ballot. (Presidential nominees were selected in a separate contest in March.)

    Hadley Luddy, CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council, won an uncontested race for the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring state Rep. Sarah Peake, who represents the four Outer Cape towns plus Orleans, Harwich, and Chatham. Orleans Select Board member Michael Herman had dropped his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the seat in late May.

    No Republican ran for Peake’s seat in the House. A Republican nominee to run against Luddy will be named after all the write-in votes have been tallied in the seven towns in the district.

    Only two Democrats ran for the two seats on the county commission, which means incumbent commissioners Mark Forest and Sheila Lyons both won their party’s nominations.

    On the Republican ballot, Ron Beaty and Cynthia Stead ran for county commission as well, so both will be on the general election ballot challenging Forest and Lyons.

    In races large and small, voters found they did not have many choices to make. Only at the top of the Republican ballot, in the contest for the party’s nomination for the right to take on incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, did primary voters see a contest.

    In that race, Republicans here made the same choice as did their fellow party members throughout the state. John Deaton, a U.S. Marine and cryptocurrency lawyer, defeated Ian Cain and Robert Antonellis in all four Outer Cape towns and statewide.

    If the Senate contest was especially exciting for Republicans, it did not appear to show in the turnout figures. Only 23 percent of Eastham’s participating voters were Republicans, below their usual share. About 13 percent of Truro and Wellfleet’s participating voters pulled Republican ballots, and only 3 percent of Provincetown’s 811 voters were Republicans.

    At Eastham Town Hall

    “It’s been very slow,” Eastham Town Clerk Linda Sassi told a reporter who visited that town’s polling place. “We’ve had fewer than 500 voters” in person, she said just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday after having been at town hall since 6 that morning.

    Sassi blamed the multitude of uncontested races and predicted turnout would be higher in the November election.

    Eastham voters who spoke to the Independent said that housing and general affordability were primary concerns. All of them across the political spectrum said they considered voting a civic duty.

    “I would like more and more families to be able to live here, and it just feels less and less possible,” said Lindsey Palmer. “It’s important to have good people in government working to make this a sustainable, livable place for year-rounders.”

    “Choosing local people is more important than choosing national people because that’s where major decisions are made,” said Sue Spencer.

    Voters who pulled Democratic ballots said that abortion access and threats to democracy were important to them. Republican voters cited the U.S.-Mexico border and the economy as concerns. Several declined to give their names.

    One woman said she was voting for Robert Antonellis, a pro-Trump Republican who lost his race for the U.S. Senate nomination.

    “He is pro-honesty,” the woman said. “He is anti-illegals. He wants to return us to a non-inflationary economy. He wants to control the borders and crime.”

    She also said she had to hide her political affiliation in Eastham.

    “As a Republican, I don’t know many Republicans,” she said. “My friends who are Democrats do not know I am a Republican and will never know, because we are at such a divisive point right now that it would come between friendships and family connections.”

    Another woman who would not give her name said she changed her voting registration from Democrat to Independent during the last primary election, citing rising prices for food, gas, and mortgages. “It’s just scary,” she said. “I don’t know how my kids are going to survive.”

    CIVICS

    The Nov. 8 Ballot Is a Mix of Lawyers, Liquor, and Money

    Choices for governor, attorney general, and county officials, along with 4 ballot questions

    By

    The election on Nov. 8 will determine who the new governor and attorney general will be, as well as the new Barnstable County sheriff and Cape & Islands district attorney. Ballot questions include a measure to fund education and road infrastructure by taxing millionaires. Down-ballot options provide a choice between Republican Ron Beaty, a one-time supporter of the Oath Keepers, and Democrat Ronald Bergstrom for county commissioner.

    Outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker, the state’s popular two-term Republican incumbent, will be replaced either by current Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, or Republican Geoff Diehl. A Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll had Healey leading Diehl by 23 points, according to the Globe.

    Getting much less attention is the race to decide who will become the next attorney general: Bourne Republican Jay McMahon, a lawyer, or Democrat Andrea Campbell, an attorney and former Boston city councilor. As attorney general, Healey rose to national prominence in her campaign to hold the Sackler family accountable for their drug company’s product, OxyContin, which ignited the opioid epidemic.

    McMahon’s oldest son, Joel, died of an opioid overdose in 2008. In a debate on WBZ-TV, McMahon advocated for increasing the police presence at Mass and Cass (the epicenter of homelessness and drug activity because of the opioid crisis in Boston). Campbell called upon suburban communities to contribute more to efforts by the city to help the homeless and drug-addicted.

    On the subject of substances, one of the four statewide ballot questions, Question 3, would expand the number of beer and wine licenses a single retailer can hold from 9 to 18 by 2031. It would, however, reduce the number of full liquor licenses that could be held by a single retailer from 9 to 7. Passage of this referendum would appear to help large chain stores by allowing them to own more beer and wine outlets. But many small liquor store owners support Question 3 because it will help stave off legislation advanced by large companies aiming to lift the cap on licenses entirely.

    Julie Seabury, owner of Wellfleet Spirits on Main Street, said Question 3 attempts to stop chains from obliterating small business competition. “This is the best we could do,” Seabury said. “It is a compromise.”

    A national chain called Total Wine, based in Maryland, has pumped $2.1 million into fighting passage of Question 3. The question’s major supporter and author, Executive Director Rob Mellion of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, said he wrote Question 3 to stop an onslaught of bills sponsored by major chains.

    “Voting yes on Question 3 would protect little guys like me,” said Al Kogos, owner of Seaside Liquors in South Wellfleet.

    Question 1, informally called the “millionaire tax,” would impose a 4-percent surcharge on income exceeding $1 million in any year. (Thus, it is not a tax on all millionaires but only on those whose annual income exceeds $1 million.) The revenue, projected to be $1.2 billion a year, would go toward schools and repair of roads and bridges in Massachusetts, according to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

    Opponents of Question 1 say it will tax retirees, those selling their homes, and others who are not really millionaires. The No on Question 1 Coalition states Question 1 is “deceptive because it is not uniquely a tax on people currently earning an income of a million dollars annually. Unlike federal taxes on personal income, the ballot question would apply to one-time gains — such as those from selling a business or home. So, the nest eggs of many small business owners and longtime homeowners whose retirement depends on their investments would be taxed if this measure is passed.”

    The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, however, found that less than one percent of older tax filers have incomes high enough to pay the millionaire tax. For retirees living on investments, only the capital gain from selling an asset is taxable, not the value of the entire investment. Only the annual withdrawal from a retirement account is taxed. And if you sell that Cape Cod home suddenly valued at over $1 million, you are taxed only on the amount over what you bought the home for in the first place, and only after also deducting $500,000 if it is your primary residence. The policy center found that less than one percent of Massachusetts home sales exceeded the previous purchase price by $1.5 million.

    Question 2 would regulate dental insurance rates by requiring companies to spend at least 83 percent of premiums on member dental expenses and quality improvements instead of on administrative expenses. It is supported by the American Dental Association and the Massachusetts Dental Society. Without imposing oversight on dental insurance, the insurers can “spend patient premiums on the company’s operating, marketing, and administrative activities,” according to the Mass Dental Society.

    Dental insurance companies oppose Question 2. The “No on 2” campaign stated that, if the ballot measure passes, it will raise premium costs and some people will not be able to afford dental coverage. The ballot question stipulates, however, that the state division of insurance would have oversight of premiums and could block price hikes that exceed the consumer price index.

    A separate story on Question 4, about driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, appears on page A6.

    Near the end of the Nov. 8 ballot, Barnstable County voters will be asked to elect a new county commissioner. The three-member commission is the executive branch of county government. The current commissioners are Sheila Lyons of Wellfleet, Mark Forest of Yarmouth, and Bergstrom, who lives in Chatham. Bergstrom is running for re-election against Beaty, who served one term on the commission from 2018 to 2021. Beaty has admitted to making a donation to the Oath Keepers, an extremist group involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Beaty also served a 14-month sentence in federal prison for making death threats against President George H.W. Bush and other politicians in the early 1990s.

    Each town in the county has one representative on the Assembly of Delegates, the legislative branch of county government. None of the Outer Cape elections for the Assembly is contested, and all the candidates are incumbents (Provincetown’s Brian O’Malley, Truro’s Sallie Tighe, Wellfleet’s Lilli-Ann Green, and Eastham’s John “Terry” Gallagher).

    Contested races include secretary of state (incumbent Bill Galvin, Rayla Campbell, and Juan Sanchez); treasurer (incumbent Deborah Goldberg and Christina Crawford); auditor (Anthony Amore, Diana DiZoglio, Gloria Caballero-Roca, Dominic Giannone III, and Daniel Riek); and for the U.S. House of Representatives (incumbent Bill Keating and Jesse Brown) and state Senate (incumbent Julian Cyr and Christopher Lauzon). Incumbent state Rep. Sarah Peake and Governor’s Councilor member Joseph Ferreira, also an incumbent, are running unopposed.

    DEMOGRAPHICS

    Mapping the Trump Vote on Cape Cod

    The further down Cape the town, the more down on the former president it was

    By

    The editor of the Independent noted in his Jan. 14 editorial page column “that 2,144 citizens of Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown voted for Trump on Nov. 3.” He didn’t go on to analyze how big a share of local voters that raw number represented, how the proportion of voters who preferred the incumbent to Democrat Joe Biden varied among the four towns of the Outer Cape, or how these local shares compared to those elsewhere on the Cape and across Massachusetts.

    An analysis of those numbers reveals a fascinating pattern: looking only at the 12 Cape Cod towns along Route 6, the Cape’s backbone, the farther from the Cape Cod Canal you go, the lower the percentage of Trump voters.

    As one can see on the accompanying map, Trump’s vote shares were far from uniform across the Outer Cape. As Route 6 winds from Provincetown, through Truro and Wellfleet, to Eastham, the percentage of Trump voters steadily rises: from 7.0 percent at the beginning, to 19.3 and 19.9 percent in the middle, and finally to 28.2 percent at the end.

    The 15 towns of Cape Cod and the proportion of voters who chose President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election. (Map adapted by Susan Abbott from the original by Grolltech via Wikimedia Commons)

    What was more surprising was that, as Route 6 continues through eight more towns on its way to the Sagamore Bridge, the percentage of Trump voters continues to increase steadily from town to town without a single exception: Orleans, 30.5 percent; Brewster, 31.6 percent; Harwich, 36.1 percent; Dennis, 38.3 percent; Yarmouth, 39.1 percent; Barnstable, 40.2 percent; Sandwich, 43.3 percent; and Bourne, 44.8 percent.

    Three Cape Cod towns are not crossed by Route 6: Chatham, 36.8 percent; Mashpee, 40.1 percent; and Falmouth, 33.9 percent.

    When compared to the rest of the state’s cities and towns, it turns out that those on the Cape gave Trump very similar shares of their votes. The median vote share for Trump among the Cape’s 15 towns was Chatham’s, 36.8 percent, while his median vote share among all of the state’s cities and towns was almost identical: North Andover’s 36.6 percent. (When a set of numbers is listed from smallest to largest, the median is the one in the middle; in this case, Chatham ranked eighth among the Cape’s 15 towns, while North Andover ranked 176th among the state’s 351 municipalities.)

    Returning to our four Outer Cape communities: Provincetown’s share of Trump voters was not only the lowest on the Cape, it was the second lowest in the entire state. (Provincetown’s 7.0 percent was just above Cambridge’s 6.6 percent.) Truro and Wellfleet were among only 38 Massachusetts cities and towns (less than 11 percent of the total) where Trump got fewer than one-fifth of the votes. And even though Eastham’s percentage of Trump voters was four times that of Provincetown’s, it was still lower than those of 254 other Massachusetts municipalities.

    What lies behind the variation in support for Trump among the Cape’s towns, and its remarkably consistent gradient? Discuss among yourselves. [Readers are invited to send their theories on this question for publication in next week’s edition. —Editor]

    Note: All statistics in this article are from a sortable table on WBUR’s website that provides election results for every city and town in the state.

    Jim Campen of Wellfleet and Cambridge worked with the Movement Voter Project to support grassroots organizing that was crucial in keeping Trump’s vote shares below those of Biden in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

    VOTERS SPEAK

    Among Outer Cape Republicans, Consensus Is Elusive

    Some who voted for Trump in 2016 remain undecided

    By

    Four years ago, 2,282 citizens of the four Outer Cape towns voted for Donald Trump: 208 in Provincetown, 361 in Truro, 515 in Wellfleet, and 1,198 in Eastham. (Hillary Clinton won 6,926 votes here in 2016.)

    As the 2020 presidential election commences, this much is certain: Massachusetts will go blue. Clinton trounced Trump, with 60.8 percent of the state’s votes to Trump’s 33.5 percent, in 2016, and all indications are that Joe Biden will do even better on Nov. 3.

    BALLOTS

    How, When, Where to Vote on Outer Cape

    Navigating a process threatened by Covid-19 and federal assault

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — While the U.S. Postal Service is being hobbled by national political forces that aim to privatize it and perhaps sabotage the upcoming federal elections during a pandemic, there’s a state primary that’s happening in less than two weeks.

    The Massachusetts primary election for state and county offices is officially set for Tuesday, Sept. 1. Fortunately, there are many ways to vote between now and then, and most of them aren’t vulnerable to the president’s manipulations.

    Election drop box in Eastham
    The secure drop box at Eastham Town Hall. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Early Voting

    In response to the coronavirus crisis, Massachusetts expanded the options for voting in several ways. One was to create a new, weeklong period to vote early in person — the idea being that the extra time to vote would thin the crowds on Sept. 1 and Election Day in November.

    From this Saturday, Aug. 22, to Friday, Aug. 28, there will be early voting at all four town halls on the Outer Cape. The times for early voting in each town are different, but they are all posted in the box on this page and at MassEarlyVote.com.

    Even if you requested or received a mail-in ballot, you can ignore it and vote early in person instead. By doing so, you won’t have to wonder if the U.S. Postal Service was able to deliver your ballot in time — you’ll put it into the ballot box yourself.

    Drop-box Voting

    Another option, if you signed up for a mail-in ballot, is to fill it out and walk it down to your town hall anytime between now and Sept. 1. Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham all have drop-box voting, and each town hall has a box. Your ballot merely has to be put in the box before 8 p.m. on Sept. 1 to be counted. This avoids the possibility of postal delays canceling your vote.

    If, instead, you put your ballot into a regular mailbox, it will need to be received by your town clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on Sept. 1 to be counted. According to Wellfleet’s voter information guide, postal delivery times can range from 3 to 11 days — and that was before there was any deliberate interference with the system. If you’ve already mailed your ballot, however, and you want to verify that it has been received, you can use another state website, TrackMyBallotMA.com.

    Vote by Mail

    It’s technically not too late to request a mail-in ballot — the official deadline is Aug. 26. Vote.org can help you submit the correct forms. The problem is that there’s not much time left before the primary to both receive a ballot in the mail and send that ballot back through the mail.

    If you are registered to vote elsewhere in Massachusetts, you can have a mail-in ballot delivered to you on the Cape. Mail-in ballots do not have to be addressed to where you are registered to vote. When it’s completed, you can then mail your ballot to the town of your primary residence.

    Alternatively, you may want to consider registering to vote here. The deadline to register is Aug. 22, and if you have a Massachusetts I.D. from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, you can register online at sec.state.ma.us/ovr.

    What’s Your Primary Residence?

    The Outer Cape has thousands of seasonal residents of every kind. There are people who worked here their whole lives but spend winters in Florida. There are people who live primarily in Boston or New York but spend long seasons here. There are people with second homes here; renters who sign six-month leases here; students who grew up here but spend nine months in Boston or Amherst. There are traveling nurses and active-duty soldiers and everything in between.

    So, where, among all the places we find ourselves in a year, can we properly vote?

    “The voter registration affidavit asks the question ‘address where you live now,’ ” said Wellfleet Town Clerk Jennifer Congel. “It’s signed under penalty of perjury. That is sufficient for me to enter someone into the voter records.”

    “It’s up to the voter to decide where their primary residence is,” said Philip Gaudet, Provincetown’s town clerk. “There can be vastly different circumstances, depending on the person.”

    “It is where you reside more than six months of the year,” said Eastham Town Clerk Cindy Nicholson, “where your car is registered, where your taxes are recorded from.”

    All three town clerks pointed out that someone who is on the Cape for only a short time can use absentee voting to get a ballot that’s then sent to where they live long-term. “I, personally, have found that people like to be registered where they are most of the time,” said Congel. “So, I have not had very many people register to vote here as just summer residents.”

    “In Massachusetts, you may register to vote at whatever address you consider to be your primary address at the time,” said Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson with the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. “It’s ultimately up to each voter to determine their primary residence, but all registrations are subject to challenge by any other registered voter.”

    The instructions for the Mass. voter registration form are to “print the address where you live now,” but, at the bottom of the form, there is an oath. “I hereby swear that I am the person named above, that the above information is true, that I am a citizen of the United States,” it reads, adding, “I consider this residence to be my home.” So apparently, home isn’t just where your heart is — it’s where your vote is, too.

    A resource to note: Home Is Where the Vote Is promotes vote-by-mail options nationwide through its website, homeiswherethevoteis.org.

    Early Voting at Town Halls: Sat. Aug. 22 through Fri. Aug. 28

    Provincetown: Sat.-Sun.: 9 a.m. to noon; Mon.-Thurs.: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fri.: 9 a.m. to noon

    Truro: Sat.: 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m.; Sun.: 2 to 4 p.m.; Mon.-Fri.: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    Wellfleet: Sat.-Sun.: 10 a.m. to noon; Mon.-Fri.: 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

    Eastham: Sat.-Sun.: 9 to 11 a.m.; Mon.-Fri.: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

     

     

    YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

    Young People’s Participation in Politics Is Growing

    Allowing 16-year-olds to vote in town elections could boost engagement

    By

    The day Nauset High senior Garrison Guzzeau went to take his driver’s test, he left the Registry of Motor Vehicles with both his license and his completed voter preregistration, so he will automatically be able to vote when he turns 18 later this year. In this way, Massachusetts makes it easy for young people to pre-register as soon as they turn 16.

    Not everyone Garrison’s age is as tuned in as he is to the importance of politics and voting, but young people’s mindsets could change with the passing of the Empower Act. The bill, which was introduced in the Massachusetts legislature by Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro and Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth, would allow individual towns to decide if 16- and 17-year-olds would be allowed to vote in town elections. It is currently awaiting action by the Joint Committee on Election Laws. Provincetown’s Rep. Sarah Peake is a supporter. “Local elections are a good way to get into the habit of voting,” she said, “as you continue to make that effort throughout your lifetime.”

    If Peake is correct, passage of the Empower Act could affect the outcome not just of local elections but also county and statewide ballots. Young people typically do not vote in large numbers compared with older citizens. But when they see government actions having a direct effect on their own lives, they are more likely to become engaged. Allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote for members of select boards and school committees, whose decisions often have such direct effects on young people, could produce that kind of civic engagement.

    “It’s easy to get involved with things that the select board does,” said Guzzeau, who lives in Orleans, “because the towns out here are only a few thousand people.”

    There is also emerging evidence that young people are paying closer attention to politics with the approach of this November’s presidential election.

    A recent poll conducted by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College found that 83 percent of the 2,232 subjects, who ranged in age from 18 to 24, believe that they have the power to change the country. Among those polled, 27 percent had been to a political march or demonstration, compared with 16 percent in a similarly timed poll in 2018; 50 percent of the subjects had tried to persuade others to vote this year, compared with 33 percent in 2018. Two years ago, 6 percent had participated in a political campaign; that number tripled to 18 percent in 2020. Though the Covid-19 pandemic is making civic action more difficult in some ways, the research suggests that young people are giving political participation higher priority.

    “Young people care about the same issues as old people,” said Nancy Thomas, the director of Tisch College’s Initiative for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE). These include the job market, the economy, and their own financial stability. Both the CIRCLE poll and interviews with students, however, show that they are deeply concerned about climate change, racial equity, and education.

    On the Outer Cape, the renovation of the decaying Nauset Regional High School in Eastham has emerged as a topic of debate. Each of the four towns in the Nauset district must approve the expenditure of about $130 million in all for the project, with the state expected to contribute about $30 million of that. Brewster taxpayers would have to pick up the largest share, because that town accounts for the largest percentage of students. But Brewster voters tend to be more conservative than those in the other three towns. (Donald Trump got 36 percent of the votes in Brewster in 2016, compared with 34 percent in Orleans, 33 percent in Eastham, and 23 percent in Wellfleet.)

    “It makes sense for young people to be interested in this, because they’re the ones being educated,” said Guzzeau. “But it’s not a classic thing that young people mobilize for. They really want to make sure that their voice is heard at town meetings and to make sure people understand what they want for their school.”

    Alison Bellarosa of Brewster has a different take on what’s important: empowering women and putting them in positions of power. Her interest in politics was sparked during the leadup to the 2016 election, when she was a senior at Nauset High and then a freshman at Emerson College in Boston.

    “I saw Hillary Clinton as a potential female president and I got really excited at the prospect,” Bellarosa said. This year, she supported Elizabeth Warren. “She encompassed a lot of the qualities that I was looking for, such as a commitment to climate change, and a commitment to protecting women’s rights over their bodies,” she said. “Prison reform has been really important to me, especially as of late with people deciding where we’re putting our money.”

    Tisch’s Thomas noted, “Like most Americans, students really care about presidential elections. I’ve also seen a lot of action on college campuses around contentious local races. These students want their vote to count. Out-of-state students are more likely to register in the place where their vote will have the most impact.” Bellarosa agreed, noting the increased attention that she paid to the Democratic primaries compared to other years.

    Sometimes, it can be hard for students who have moved away from home to feel invested in local politics either where they grew up or where they went to college. Bellarosa, who was living in Brighton before the pandemic, explained, “I’m not that invested in Brewster politics. And I didn’t really have a pulse on what the Brighton community needed. So, I felt like I couldn’t vote there. I’m a college kid. Moving into their town and telling them how they should run it was just not for me.” As a result, she is putting more time into learning about the presidential race.

    Nancy Thomas says young people need to understand that civic engagement is not just about presidential elections, but about the daily life of communities. “This work is year-round,” she said. “The worst things that campuses can do is treat elections as an event. It’s one of many opportunities to participate in the democratic process.”

    YOUNG VOICES

    Hope For Local Journalism

    By

    Student stories in this week’s issue:

    We’ve written about how local businesses and town governments are coping with the coronavirus pandemic, but Garrison Guzzeau reached out to nonprofits from Eastham to Provincetown to ask how they are adapting, and what they worry about hope for now. Read his story here >

    When Outer Cape eighth graders consider where to go to high school, Nauset Regional High School and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School are most often at the top of their lists. Talia Kantor Lieber wondered what goes into students’ thinking on where to go. She learned that their families figure in the decision-making. And that other questions loom and distract in this pandemic season. Read Talia’s story here >

    A lot has changed about visits between grandparents and grandchildren during this crisis. Alyia Vasquez looked into the experiences of elders and her own generation. What she found was partly what you’d expect: it’s been hard and isolation is an issue. But she also found some surprising good news in the workarounds and new rituals people are trying to stay connected. Read Alyia’s story here >

    Niev Witnauer is interested in truth-seeking reporting. But this summer she decided to explore stories where the truth may never be known — the kinds of ghost stories and legends often told at summer gatherings here. She delved into some of the Outer Cape’s most popular tales, from an alien invasion in Truro to a shipwreck off Marconi beach, and discovered the details as well as some people who help keep those stories alive and evolving. Read Niev’s story here >

    Every summer that they can remember, Eve and Thea Samaha have made a pilgrimage to the Chocolate Sparrow on Wellfleet’s Main Street. This year, the store was shuttered, a “For Rent” sign posted on the lawn. The story deserved investigation. They learned about what happened, asked what might happen next year, and tapped townspeople’s longing for old fashioned shops like this one to be a part of our towns. Read Eve and Thea’s story here >

    We are grateful to our 2020 Summer Fellows who were mentors and editors on this project. They all had their own stories in this week’s issue, but two of them that focus closely on younger people’s lives were in this special section. Don’t miss Cana Tagawa on the questions facing college students — will local students take a gap year or forge ahead into remote learning? And Allyson Birger reports on young people’s sense that they can turn this thing around — and it looks like they will be voting.

     

     

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Tuesday, Aug. 11

    • Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, Aug. 12

    • Finance Committee, 5 p.m.

    Covid-19 Update

    As of July 30, the number of confirmed cases in Eastham was 14. The number of cases increased from 12 last week, according to the town’s website.

    Willy’s Protest

    A protest outside Willy’s Gym is planned to begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. Anne Sigsbee has organized the protest for the one-year anniversary of the death of Joe Abbott, a longtime tennis instructor at the gym.

    “It will be a year since Joe died and many of us are very aware that his family has not been paid what he was owed when he died,” Sigsbee told the Independent.

    The Independent reported in March that Francine Abbott of South Dennis, Joe Abbott’s widow, claims that Willy’s owner Barbara Niggel owed him more than $20,000 in unpaid wages and loans when he died last year. Niggel has denied this and has hired a lawyer to represent her in the dispute.

    “We felt to honor him and his family we would speak up,” Sigsbee said. “Some of us feel strongly and will not use the facilities until we learn that they’ve been paid what they’re owed.”

    The protest will be an all-day event with most people showing up around midday, Sigsbee said. She expects 20 or more people to attend, including Abbott’s family, and participants will be wearing masks and remain socially distanced.

    “Joe’s family is very supportive and will be there,” she said.

    Anyone planning to attend should wear a mask; signs are welcome.

    Nauset Schools to Reveal Opening Plan Aug. 6

    Nauset Regional School Supt. Tom Conrad will announce the district’s reopening plans for the fall at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6.

    So far all that has been announced to parents is that the Nauset district, which spans Wellfleet to Brewster, will most likely open late, on Sept. 16, to give teachers time for training and to be ready for a school year guaranteed to include distance learning for families needing that option and a lot of hand sanitizer.

    Other than that, Conrad’s message will lay out details on whether all students go back to a brick-and-mortar school, continue “distant learning,” or a combination of both.

    To get on the Zoom call, follow these instructions: Go to nausetschools.org. Scroll down the Quick Links and select “Event Calendar” and then click on the event listed on Aug. 6. Click next on the “Description, 8-6-2020.” This will take you, finally, to the agenda and Zoom meeting link.

    Rock Harbor Open Again

    The Rock Harbor boat ramp is open again, according to Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe. She gave an update to the select board on Aug. 3 on the completion of the project to repave and replace the boat ramp in the area.

    Beebe said Harbormaster Scott Richards will be at the harbor assisting boats in and out of the area. The town waited to see what the weather was like earlier this week but planned on opening the boat ramp after Wednesday.

    “Our docks and floats are in the water and we have everything set up to receive boats at this point,” Beebe said. “The ramp portion is complete; the parking lot was repaved two days ago and is ready to be driven on.”

    The line markers for parking spaces will be drawn either this week or next week.

    Register to Vote

    The last day to register to vote in Eastham for the state primary election, to be held on Sept. 1, is Saturday, Aug. 22 at the police station. The deadline to request a mail-in AV or EV ballot is Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. and to request an AV or EV in person is Monday, Aug. 31 until noon.

    Early voting for the primary will be held at town hall on Saturday, Aug. 22 and Sunday, Aug. 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. and on Monday, Aug. 24 through Friday, Aug. 28 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

    The last day to register to vote at the annual town meeting, to be held on Sept. 21, is Tuesday, Sept. 1 until 5 p.m.

    Kerry Steps Down from Strategic Planning

    In a letter to the select board, Scott Kerry announced he will be stepping down from the strategic planning committee but said he would still provide input as a resident.

    “I would like to offer my services and experiences as a business owner, father of an elementary school student, and long-time resident if needed and/or desired,” Kerry wrote. “I will plan to make future meetings when my schedule permits.”

    Kerry is the new town moderator and chair of the T-Time Development Committee. —Ryan Fitzgerald

    TOWN ELECTIONS

    Get Your Voting Done Early

    Voter registration and absentee and early voting deadlines are near

    By

    All citizens are encouraged to vote by mail this year. To do that, however, a registered voter must fill out and mail in an absentee or early voting application, and then have a ballot mailed to them.

    Town halls are now closed, and may still be closed even at election time. So those who want absentee ballots must mail in applications far enough in advance for the town clerk to respond in time. (You can also fax or email the ballots to save time. See instructions for each town below.)

    Absentee and early voting are technically different, but this year that distinction is not so important. If you are not already registered to vote, you need to do that first. The state has changed the rules during the pandemic to allow extra time to register. But there are still deadlines, and they are soon. For example, the deadline for registering for the Wellfleet town election on June 15 is Friday, June 5.

    People with any form of I.D. from the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles can register to vote online at www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr.

    PROVINCETOWN

    • Annual Town Election: Tuesday, June 30
    • Voter Registration Deadline: Friday, June 19
    • Absentee/early voting: Absentee ballot applications may be addressed to the town clerk at 260 Commercial St., Provincetown MA 02657, or faxed to (508) 487-9560. Allow ample mailing time for the ballot application and the ballot itself. You can hand-deliver your actual ballot to the clerk’s office, or you can mail it, but it must be received by the town clerk’s office by the time polls close on election day to be counted.

    TRURO

    • Annual Town Election: Tuesday, June 30
    • Voter Registration Deadline: Friday, June 19
    • Absentee/early voting: Completed and signed applications can be mailed, faxed, emailed (must include a scan with a signature), or (if town hall is open by then) dropped off in person to: Truro Clerk’s Office, 24 Town Hall Rd., P.O. Box 2012, Truro MA 02666-2012; Fax: (508) 349-5505; Email: [email protected].Ballots must be returned by election day.

    WELLFLEET

    • Annual Town Election: Monday, June 15
    • Voter registration deadline: Friday, June 5
    • Absentee/early voting: To submit an application to vote by mail, print out an application, fill it out, sign it, and mail to Town Clerk, 300 Main St., Wellfleet MA 02667, or you may email it to[email protected]. You may also drop it at town hall in the drop box at the back door by the tax collector’s office. A ballot will be mailed to you, or if you email the town clerk, she will put one out in the drop box for you. Ballots must be returned by end of voting on June 15 at 7 p.m.

    EASTHAM

    • Annual Town Election: Tuesday, June 23
    • Voter Registration Deadline: Friday, June 12
    • Absentee/early voting: By mail, Eastham Town Clerk, 2500 State Hwy., Eastham, MA 02642. One can email the absentee ballot application or an early voting ballot application to [email protected]. Ballots must be returned by 6 p.m. on election day. If you have questions regarding absentee or early voting, or elections in general, call (774) 801-3225.

    currents

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    From truro-ma.gov, click on “remote meeting information” on the lower left. The next page will prompt you to click again for a pdf document with instructions for viewing or listening to remote meetings. Where comments are invited, they must be sent before the meeting to be read at the meeting.

    No meetings posted for April 23 to April 30 as of the Independent’s deadline Tuesday.

    Conversation Starters

    Coronavirus Update

    As of April 21, there were two active cases and seven resolved coronavirus cases in Truro.

    Town Manager to Stay
    Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer has agreed to postpone her retirement until Sept. 30, 2020, in order to provide consistent leadership for the town through uncertain times. Before the coronavirus stay-at-home advisory, she had planned to retire in June. On April 21, the select board agreed to give her a raise for her extra time on the job, so she’ll be paid at an annual rate of $145,000 for the three months beyond her planned June 30 retirement, said Bob Weinstein of the select board. The board is advertising her position at $145,000. Palmer’s current annual salary is $140,000.
    The select board will interview and appoint the town manager screening committee by May 12. “We want to hire someone by September,” Weinstein said, adding that they hope to do the interviews in person.

    Town Meeting Set for June 23
    The select board has delayed the annual town meeting, originally scheduled for April 28, to June 23, in the hopes that by then people will feel OK about congregating. Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer advised the board on April 21 that some Cape towns are considering virtual town meetings or outdoor town meetings. She said virtual town meeting won’t be fair to those without reliable internet service. An outdoor town meeting or further postponement may be necessary, she added. The town election will be held on June 30.

    Tax Delay
    The Truro Select Board voted unanimously on April 14 to extend the due date for 2020 second half real and personal property tax bills and for applications for property tax exemptions to June 1, 2020, to provide some relief to residents during the Covid-19 public health emergency. Tax payments would have been due on May 1. —K.C. Myers

     

    currents

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    All meetings are being held remotely. For viewing information go to the town’s website, truro-ma.gov, and look on the left for “Remote meeting information.”

    Tuesday, April 21

    • Truro Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m.
    • Select Board, 2 p.m.
    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Coronavirus Update

    As of April 13, Truro had one active case of Covid-19 and eight resolved cases.

    Live-Streaming Available

    On April 14, Truro town government began live-streaming meetings for the first time since the town banned public meetings in mid-March. Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer said the town needed a piece of equipment, difficult to obtain, called a TRMS live-streamer server. Now the public may watch and participate in public meetings live, from their computers.

    Pre-Town Meeting on Hold

    Along with the annual town meeting and town election, the pre-town meeting and candidates’ night that was going to be held on April 14 at the Truro Community Center was also postponed. New dates will be announced when they are determined.

    Hand-Crank Voting Is Back

    On Jan. 28, the Truro Select Board voted to begin using the ImageCast Precinct Optical Scan Tabulator, also known as an electronic voting machine, effective Sept. 1, 2020, the date of the state primary election. But due to the delay in town meeting, the timing will not legally allow the town to switch voting methods. Therefore, the select board was expected to vote Tuesday to continue using the old hand-crank ballot box.

    If the board members wish to try again to switch to electronic voting, they must revote to discontinue the hand-crank machine in the future, stated Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark in a memo to the select board. Until this recent reprieve for the old ballot box in Truro, Provincetown was the only remaining town on Cape Cod that had not made the switch to electronic voting. —K.C. Myers

    Truro Board Defends Itself on Crisis Response

    The Truro Select Board had one topic on the agenda for its April 9 meeting: to discuss and respond to two articles in the April 2 edition of the Provincetown Independent.

    In one article the newspaper reported that Truro had lagged behind other Outer Cape towns in making regulatory board meetings accessible to the public. The second was an opinion column by the editor, criticizing town officials for a March 27 message on the town website warning of “an influx of people fleeing urban centers” and advising such people to stay away.

    The meeting concluded with the board voting to send a letter to the editor of the Independent, which was posted on the town website that same day. The letter said, “Resort communities nationwide are struggling with this same issue.” It also said, “The statement followed the governor’s guidance to avoid unnecessary travel.”

    Editor Edward Miller of the Independent responded to the select board on April 9, explaining that the board’s letter was more than twice as long as the newspaper’s word limit for letters and offering to help craft a shorter response for publication. No one had responded to the offer by this week’s deadline.

    At the board’s meeting, member Susan Areson proposed meeting with the editor to “clear the air here and see if there is something going on.”

    Board Chair Jan Worthington, Vice Chair Robert Weinstein, and member Stephanie Rein dismissed Areson’s idea.

    “We are dealing with, and I use the term loosely, a ‘local press,’ ” said Weinstein. “I don’t think it would be productive to meet with them.”

    Areson said the newspaper was correct “in pointing out that we have lagged behind other communities” in providing access to meetings during the pandemic.

    “I won’t even give [the Independent] credence for the fact that other towns are doing a better job,” said Weinstein. “I have no evidence of that.”

    At the time, Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Eastham had all had directions for accessing and participating in meetings on their town websites for several weeks. The following week, a notice appeared on the Truro website announcing the live-streaming of Truro Select Board meetings beginning on April 14.–Devin Sean Martin

     

     

    EDITORIAL

    Making Your Vote Count in Tuesday’s Primary

    By

    An aura of futility surrounds the presidential primary in Massachusetts this Tuesday, March 3.

    On the Democratic side, there’s a feeling that no matter who ultimately wins the primary, this bluest of states will vote for him or her over Donald Trump. This presumption is well-founded: since World War II, the only Republican presidential candidates to win in Massachusetts were Eisenhower and Reagan, and Trump isn’t nearly as popular nationally as either of them. By this way of thinking, it doesn’t really matter which candidate Massachusetts voters choose.

    Also, this being Super Tuesday, with states like California and Texas in the mix, many feel that what happens here will get lost in the overall totals. That, too, is a good hunch. But there is one candidate for whom Massachusetts is especially significant: Elizabeth Warren. If the senator can’t take her home state, her campaign is probably doomed — where else can she take the lead?

    There is a positive way to view the primary here: because Massachusetts is otherwise not particularly strategic, it should provide Democratic voters with a chance to focus on the candidate they personally prefer, instead of making pragmatic compromises. If you feel as if Warren is the best candidate, vote for her. If you like Pete Buttigieg best but are having doubts that he can win, vote for him anyway. Vote for Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, or Tom Steyer — not because they’re more likely to beat Trump according to some poll, but because you think they would make the best president. Now is the time to vote your conscience. You may not have another opportunity.

    Among the 15 Democrats on the ballot, seven have already dropped out of the race: Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Julián Castro, John Delaney, Deval Patrick, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang. To vote for any of them is pointless. Besides, Castro has endorsed Warren, and Williamson has endorsed Sanders.

    On the Republican side, there’s little chance that an alternative candidate can stop Trump. But a vote for former Gov. Bill Weld will open a noteworthy crack in Trump’s wall. A vote for the other two Republicans on the ballot, Roque de la Fuente and Joe Walsh (Walsh has dropped out), would also be noteworthy, but less so locally.

    Only registered Greens and Libertarians can vote for those parties’ candidates in the primary, except for independents, who are free to vote in the party primary of their choosing. That’s a nice position to be in this year, no matter what your political leanings are.

    Massachusetts voters may not get the visibility that our neighbors in New Hampshire have enjoyed this primary season, but our votes still count. They always do.

     

    reporter's notebook

    Cyr Comes Out

    By

    Getting insurance coverage for mental health services is difficult. So is talking about mental illness. That is why state Senator Julian Cyr, a Democrat from Truro, and other legislators are “coming out” about their personal issues.

    Cyr, who attended the Nauset regional schools, where he said he was bullied, suffered anxiety attacks. Now he has led the senate to pass the Mental Health ABC Act. As chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, Cyr joined Senate President Karen Spilka in talking about why the mental health reform bill matters to them personally. Spilka’s father suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder after World War II. Following her lead, Cyr opened up about his problems getting therapy covered as he changed jobs.

    “I couldn’t get my insurance to pay for mental health services — and I’m a 34-year-old state senator who worked in health care policy,” he told me on Friday. Imagine how hard it is for everyone else.

    The ABC Act would set the stage for mental health to be treated the same as physical ailments. That is, it aims to make health insurance companies pay for therapy just like they are required to pay for doctor visits. By getting insurance to pay decent rates to therapists, more people would be encouraged to become therapists (even people of color who speak languages other than English — because right now about 90 percent of therapists are white and non-Latino, Cyr said).

    For those who need treatment, a check-up from the neck up should be just as routine as getting an annual physical exam.

    But it’s not, and that isn’t just because this state doesn’t force insurers to abide by the parity laws that have existed for years. It’s also because people are afraid to admit they need a therapist. Calling one is often fraught with embarrassment and shame.

    That’s why Cyr coming out about his mental health struggle is so important. Like most LGBTQ teenagers, he was bullied, beginning at Nauset Regional Middle School. In high school and college, he suffered anxiety attacks and night terrors and developed an eating disorder.

    But starting in high school, Cyr got help, and then he doggedly sought and received therapy at N.Y.U. After college he found treatment in Washington, D.C. and Boston. Sometimes, he had to fight to get insurance to cover it, but he did it.

    Meanwhile he won a seat in the state senate at age 30. He ran a campaign, made public speeches, and stood up for his beliefs. Just like anyone else with a health problem, he dealt with it so he could go on with his life. The ABC Act will create a better mental health care system. Cyr’s example encourages us to use it.

     

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