Believe it or not, Election Day is next Tuesday September 4, the day after Labor Day.
The election for State Representative to replace now Senator Nick Collins, who will also be on the ballot, highlights the political action here in South Boston. David Biele, and attorney and former staff director for then-Representative Nick Collins, is running, as well as Matt Rusteika, a former energy conservation manager with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Turnout is the key factor in this election. Contested races in the Democratic Primary for Congress, District Attorney, Governor’s Council, Secretary of State, Governor and the local State Representative seat should spark interest, but concern has been raised over the date of September 4. Massachusetts statute requires the primary to be held on the seventh Tuesday before the general election, which this year would have fallen on Sept. 18. But that happens to coincide with the beginning of the most important Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, which begins that Tuesday evening. In such an instance, state law mandates the secretary of state choose a primary date “within 7 days of the second Tuesday in September” — that’s seven days before or after Sept. 11.
Secretary of State William Galvin said he couldn’t choose Tuesday, Sept. 11, itself because that is also a Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah. And the secretary, a Boston Democrat, said he did not want to choose Thursday, Sept. 6, the first day back to school for many children, including most Boston Public School students. Mondays and Wednesdays pose troubles of their own, his office said, with few voters associating those days with going to the polls, and there are a host of religious and cost-related reasons not to hold an election on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. He emphasized the constraints of the law and calendar: “I think we picked the best date we could
Enjoy your Labor Day holiday — and don’t forget that the primary election is the next day, Sept. 4.
