City Clerk Michael Matarazzo announced on Tuesday that state election officials from the Secretary of State’s office had visited with city election staff to go over Election Day procedures for the upcoming election and will provide support for Tuesday’s Special Primary Election.
“We asked them to come over and sit with our people, go over the procedures and just help keep everybody calm about the upcoming elections,” explained Matarazzo. “I’m actually very happy that they came and I’m happy that they are going to provide us with some support on Election Day.”
According to Matarazzo, a former Election Commissioner from the city of Cambridge will be on hand in the city on Election Day, assisting the local staff with election procedures.
“We just want everybody to be confident in the process and in the staff that everything will be handled appropriately,” added Matarazzo.
The City Clerk has adopted new procedures and protocols in collaboration with the Secretary of State for managing absentee ballots and other election day issues, as a result of the recent voter fraud scandal, which was perpetrated by former State Representative Stephen “Stat” Smith.
Tuesday’s Special Primary Election will be the first election held in Everett since Smith’s guilty plea and conviction by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ruiz. It is also the first step in the process to replace Smith in the statehouse.
Matarazzo has said that the new procedures and plans have been a big help to his office in ensuring the validity of all absentee ballot requests and since the adoption of the new plans, the city has seen about 200 absentee ballots returned for the upcoming election.