Massachusetts voters decide senator, governor and state offices Tuesday

Counting runs through the night across 351 city and town jurisdictions

Massachusetts voters decide Tuesday whether to reelect a full slate of Democratic incumbents to statewide office, including U.S. senator and governor, according to the Associated Press. The ballot also carries races for the U.S. House, the state Legislature and other state and local offices. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, Governor’s Council, state Senate and state House. It will also provide results and declare winners in the district attorney race covering Bristol and Norfolk and in nine statewide ballot measures, the AP said. The AP Decision Team compiled the key facts and data points it will monitor as the votes are tallied.

How quickly those results arrive depends partly on how Massachusetts runs its elections. The state administers elections at the town and city level, with 351 separate jurisdictions overseeing local vote counts and varying in how and when they release results, according to the AP. In many of the larger jurisdictions, results from a mix of voting methods are released together throughout the night.

The 2022 election offers a turnout benchmark: about 2.4 million votes were cast in the race for Massachusetts governor, and about 45% of the vote in that contest was cast early in-person or by mail, according to the AP. The AP’s advance vote tracker carries the latest advance-vote totals ahead of Tuesday.

Counting speed has a recent precedent as well. In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results at 8:15 p.m. ET, 15 minutes after polls closed, the AP said. The count reached the halfway mark at 11:06 p.m. ET and stood at 90% of total votes counted at 3:56 a.m. ET the following morning.

The AP does not make projections. It declares a winner only when it determines there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP said it will continue to cover newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory, while making clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explaining why.

Recounts in Massachusetts are not automatic. Candidates for statewide and districtwide offices may request a recount if the vote margin is not more than 0.5% of the total vote, according to the AP. Candidates at the town or ward level may request a recount through a signature petition.

Even in a race that is subject to a recount, the AP may declare a winner if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome, the news organization said.