Massachusetts' Primary Is Days Away: Here's What to Know

Early in-person voting for next week's primary came to a close in Massachusetts Friday, and voters like Sara Erkal made sure to beat the deadline.

"I do like early voting," said the Cambridge resident. "I think it makes it a little bit more accessible, I think we should all have a day off to be able to go and vote."

Voters say there's a range of issues and candidate qualities that are top of mind.

"I try to look for somebody who has forward looking platforms," said Amy Coronado. "Things that are not just full of buzzwords about what they think people care about."

If you planned to vote by mail but haven't cast your ballot yet, state officials say it's probably too late as there's no guarantee your ballot will make it in by the deadline.

Options now are to use a ballot drop box, turn your ballot in at your local election office, or to vote in person on election day.

"I think a lot of folks are paying attention," said Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a non-partisan group that advocates for increasing voter participation.

He says expanded early voting and vote by mail have helped improve turnout.

"When you get that vote by mail application in the mail it's like being invited to participate in an election," said Foster. "And I think we're seeing a lot of folks responding to that very positively. There's also a lot of competitive races in the party primaries and that’s always a good recipe for turnout."

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin's office reports that as of Friday at 4 p.m., 433,927 people have cast ballots.