Watertown Voter Guide: The CPA, Presidential Race & State Ballot Questions

After months of campaigning, the 2016 Presidential election is nearly here, plus Watertown voters have state and local ballot questions to consider on Tuesday, Nov. 8. 

Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and remain open until 8 p.m. Then the ballots are taken to Town Hall and precinct results could come as early as 8:30 p.m., but in the past the last precincts have not been finalized until around 10 p.m.

On election night, go to Watertownmanews.com for full results, and follow the results as the come in on the Watertown News Twitter page – https://twitter.com/WatertownMANews

See your ballot and voting location by clicking here and filling out the form. Candidates
On the top of the ballot is the candidates for president. Along with the two major party candidates – Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump – are Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein. There are five other offices up for election this year in town, but little has been heard about these races because they are uncontested.

LETTER: Watertown Resident Helped Question 1 Succeed

To the Editor,

On November 4th the voters of Massachusetts said no to “Taxation Without Representation” by voting Yes on Question 1. We repealed the legislation that raised the gasoline tax atomically every year without any further debate or vote of the legislature. In so doing the Commonwealth’s voters restored representative democracy, in it’s birthplace and cradle. The vast majority of credit for this effort belongs to Watertown’s own Steve Aylward. He conceived this ballot initiative.

Find Out How Faire on the Square Goers Voted on the State Ballot Questions

The Watertown Democratic Town Committee ran a straw poll at Saturday’s Faire on the Square to see people’s opinion on the four state ballot questions. The majority of respondents also supported the repeal of the Massachusetts Gaming Act and opposed the repeal of the state’s gas tax, said Steve Owen, chairman of the Watertown Democratic Town Committee. Participants were asked to vote “yes” or “no” on the four questions which will appear on this November’s ballot. Of 165 Faire-goers who participated, 69 percent indicated they would vote “No” on Question 1, which would repeal the state’s recently enacted gas tax.  Respondents overwhelmingly supported Question 2, the expanded bottle bill, with 77 percent voting “Yes” to a measure that would add a 5 cent deposit to water and juice containers.  Question 3, which would repeal the state’s 2011 Gaming Act, was supported by 66 percent of those polled. Question 4, which would guarantee earned sick time for all Massachusetts workers, was supported by a record 92 percent of respondents, according to the WDTC’s press release. “This is the sixth year we’ve done a straw poll at the Faire on the Square,” Owens said, “and we’ve never before had anything poll as high as the earned sick time ballot question.”

The poll is not a scientific one, but Owens said the winners of the Committee’s straw poll have gone on to win in Watertown four out of the previous five years.