Buckle up

Welcome back!

The tidal wave of endorsements for candidates in the Town Election continued this week. While the activity level on that front is remarkable, we also learned that an astonishingly small number of residents have applied for a mail ballot. To quote a League of Women Voters of Sudbury article:

“As of Tuesday, only 301 voters had applied for a mail ballot. For the 2024 town election, 3,628 voters applied for and were sent mail ballots. In that election, 1,685 people voted by mail, nearly half of the 3,390 total votes cast.”

Apparently the issue is that odd years and even years have different protocols alternating between the State, which is legally required to mail out applications for mail ballots, and local clerks who have no such requirement. Leave it to Massachusetts to embrace vote by mail in a way that’s entirely inconsistent and could accidentally suppress vote by mail!

The point is: if you want to vote by mail, the deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Monday. Even then, you’re cutting it close if you opt to mail it back — so you may want to consider dropping it in the drop box at Town Hall, right after you check your voter registration, pay the troll to cross the bridge, complete a Ninja Warrior obstacle course, and perform the Macarena for the Supreme Judicial Court.

Anyway, here’s what we have for you this week:

1. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

2. 250 years ago on March 21, 1775

3. To Vote by Mail, Voters Must Apply Now, Mail Ballots Not Sent Automatically

4. Committee Roundup

Let’s get into it!

SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

250 years ago on March 21, 1775

By Jan Hardenbergh

250 years ago, on March 21, 1775, Ezekiel How(e) reported on the status of the militia companies. Here is how his "return" begins:

Full Page of How's Return

Here is a transcript from Hudson's History of Sudbury, page 370.

On April 19th, Lieutenant Colonel Ezekiel Howe would be second in command to Colonel James Barrett of Concord. We will have more on Ezekial in April.

Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute, April 1775

The names of the companies are from Hudsons's History of Sudbury, page 365. Hudson uses the information in How's Return here. The links are to the present day Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute, who will march off to Concord this coming Aprtil 19th at 5:30AM. See more at sudbury.ma.us/sudbury250

North Militia Company, West Side — Captain Aaron Haynes, 60 men.
East Militia Company, East Side — Captain Joseph Smith, 75 men.
South Militia Company (Lanham District) both Sides — Captain Moses Stone, 92 men.
Troop of Horse, Both Sides — Captain Isaac Loker, 21 men.
Minute Company, West Side — Captain John Nixon, 58 men
Minute Company, East Side — Captain Nathaniel Cudworth, 40 men

These make, besides the alarm list of Jabez Puffer, six companies — three hundred and forty-eight men.

Notes:

1) When Hudson uses the name Lanham District on both Sides, he is not talking about both sides of the Sudbury River, he is saying that the Lanham District spanned both towns. Consider both Sides of Landam Road. There is a lot of Wayland on the west side of the rivier. See  Map Of Sudbury 1776

2) On Minute Companies, from What is a Minuteman?

Generally, minute companies were comprised of young citizen-soldiers, 30 years of age or younger, who were quick, agile, and kept ready for deployment “in a minute’s notice.” Like most militia forces, they were armed and equipped at their own expense...While all minutemen were part of the militia, not all militia troops were minutemen.

3) Note on Alarm lists, as in the list Jabez Puffer maintained.

See Also: The National Parks Service Militia page as it relates to Battle Road Park, which includes an informative video.

To Vote by Mail, Voters Must Apply Now, Mail Ballots Not Sent Automatically

By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury

The number of voters applying for a mail ballot for the March 31 town election is down dramatically from last year’s town election. As of Tuesday, only 301 voters had applied for a mail ballot. For the 2024 town election, 3,628 voters applied for and were sent mail ballots. In that election, 1,685 people voted by mail, nearly half of the 3,390 total votes cast.

The low number of applications is likely because voters do not realize they must apply for a mail ballot for this year’s town election; it will not automatically be sent to them.

In even-numbered state election years like the 2024 Presidential election year, the Secretary of State sends a postcard mail ballot application to all voters. That postcard includes the option to request mail ballots for all elections in the calendar year, and the Town Clerk’s office reported that most voters opting for mail ballots request them for all elections. In odd-numbered years, with only municipal elections scheduled, the state does not send that mail ballot application postcard. 

The 2024 request for mail ballots for all elections expired Dec. 31, 2024; state law makes such requests good for only one calendar year.  

Voters will not receive a mail ballot for the March 31 town election unless they apply for one now. The deadline for that application to be received in the Town Clerk’s office is Monday, March 24 at 5 p.m. 

Registered voters can apply online, using a downloadable form, or by requesting a paper form at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 322 Concord Rd. Forms can be returned to the Town Clerk by mail, in person, or they can be scanned and sent by email to [email protected] or faxed to the Town Clerk’s office, 978-639-3340. This close to the deadline, applying online is the surest way to submit an application on time.  

Once voters have requested a mail ballot, they can track the progress of that request here.

Voters who receive a mail ballot only a few days before the election should consider returning it to the ballot drop box available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, behind Town Hall to avoid U. S. postal service delays. Mail ballots must be received by the Town Clerk by 8 p.m. Monday, March 31; depositing ballots in the drop box by that time meets that deadline. Mail ballots cannot be returned to the polling place on Election Day.

Voters who have not yet applied for a mail ballot, or who apply now but do not receive a ballot in time, can vote in person on Election Day, Monday, March 31, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. All precincts in Sudbury now vote at the Fairbank Community Center, 40 Fairbank Rd.  

Since no-excuse mail voting was adopted in Massachusetts in 2022, mail ballots have become a significant percentage of the votes cast in elections.

In the 2024 Annual Town Election, 3,390 people voted with 1,658, just under half, voting by mail. In the November 2024 Presidential election, 11,943 people voted; 5,444 or 45.6% voted by mail, by far the most popular way to vote, and 3,972 or 33.3% voted in person on Election Day.

Committee Roundup

By Kevin LaHaise

Sudbury Public Schools School Committee

• After their joint meeting with the Select Board, in which they appointed Jessica McCready to the school committee, the school committee carried on with their own meeting.

• Much of their agenda was procedural and housekeeping-related.

• From the Department of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”: After discussing their annual committee self-assessment, the committee went on to discuss a response to themselves about their Open Meeting Law complaint that they filed against themselves. (2:14:15)

Planning Board

• The Planning Board met on March 12 and discussed the Housing Production Plan (HPP) as well as the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) bylaw update coming to Town Meeting.

• The board has been working methodically through both the HPP and the ADU bylaw update in recent months. It looks like they may be getting close to finalizing the HPP, and the ADU bylaw update looks like it will be thoroughly buttoned up in time for Town Meeting.

Capital Improvement Advisory Committee and Finance Committee

• Both committees have been taking positions on Town Meeting warrant articles, and in several cases have voted not to support noteworthy articles, including some Town Manager and Select Board sponsored articles.

• The Finance Committee still has more votes to take, and some of them are for major capital projects and Community Preservation Committee articles.

• Sudbury Weekly will wait until the Finance Committee meets with the Select Board next Tuesday to run a full story.

• If you’re eager to know what positions the various committees and boards have taken on articles so far, jump to page 114 here.

• The Finance Committee and the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee are meeting on Monday to finish taking their positions and developing their recommendations for the Select Board.

Parting Thoughts

We’re officially in the homestretch of the Town Election. Things can get mighty stressful at this point… so we’ll send you off this week with an AI-generated image of a golden retriever puppy riding a skateboard towards a pile of dog toys.

And for good measure, because Town Meeting is coming in hot, here’s a picture of a penguin hugging a seal:

Onward!