Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

October 6, 2021

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 519-520: October 5, 2021

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,elections — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:04 am

Episode 519 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 5, 2021 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Oct 5, 2021 at 6:00pm. Topics: Wild Card baseball; voter registration and voting options; tax classification & taxes, councillors wanting to tax & spend; over-reliance on commercial development, residential exemption and the condo sweet deal; neighborhood associations, community schools, & neighborhood councils; topics for candidates. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters
[On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 520 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 5, 2021 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Oct 5, 2021 at 6:30pm. Topics: Tim Toomey Park and happy reunions; from carpetbagger to townie; voting history and supervoters; reprecincting; PACs and candidate slates; campaigning door-to-door; using City Council committee meetings for political organization and promotion. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

September 30, 2021

Voter Registration and Voting Options for the Municipal Election

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,elections — Tags: , — Robert Winters @ 7:25 pm

Voter Registration and Voting Options for the Municipal Election

Early voting is available to all voters for the Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 2nd. Early voting is available by mail and in-person to all registered voters in Cambridge. However, you choose to vote, please be advised that once a voter casts an early voting ballot, the voter may no longer vote at the polls.

Voter Registration

For anyone wanting to vote early in-person, by mail, or by drop box, the first step is making sure you are registered. To check your voter registration status and to find information on how to register to vote, please go to www.registertovotema.com. You will need a license, or an I.D. issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles to apply online. To be eligible to vote in the Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, you must register to vote or make changes to your voter registration by Wednesday, October 13, 2021. The office will be open until 8:00pm on October 13, 2021.

Early Voting by Mail

To vote by mail:

  1. Complete a Vote by Mail Application. For voter convenience postage paid postcard applications were mailed by the Election Commission to all registered voters in Cambridge. You may also download an application at www.cambridgema.gov/earlyvoting or send a written request with your name, Cambridge address, address where you want the ballot sent, and your signature.Vote!

    2. Send your signed application by email, fax or mail:

    • Email: elections@cambridgema.gov

    • Fax: 617-349-4366

    • Mail: Cambridge Election Commission 51 Inman Street Cambridge, MA 02139

  2. Vote when your ballot arrives.
  3. Return your voted and sealed ballot to the Cambridge Election Commission by mail, ballot drop box, or in person to the Cambridge Election Commission office.

You can check the status of your ballot at www.TrackMyBallotMA.com.

The deadline to return a vote by mail ballot is November 2, 2021 at 8:00pm to be counted.

The deadline to submit a Vote by Mail Application for a mailed ballot for the election is Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 5:00pm. The Cambridge Election Commission recommends submitting this application no later than October 19th to ensure the timely delivery of your ballot.

The Election Commission is open to the public by walk-in or appointment. If you would like to schedule an appointment at, please go to https://calendly.com/cambridge-election-commission.

Early Voting In-Person

To vote in person, visit any one of the three (3) early voting locations offered in Cambridge during the period from Saturday, October 23, 2021 to Friday, October 29, 2021 for the Municipal Election. You must be a registered voter in Cambridge to vote at the early voting locations. Please refer to the City’s designated early voting schedule below. The deadline to vote early in person is Friday, October 29, 2021 at 5:00pm.

DESIGNATED EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS, HOURS AND DAYS

Cambridge Water Department – 250 Fresh Pond Parkway, Cambridge
Main Library – 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Valente Library – 826 Cambridge Street, Side Entrance on Berkshire Street, Cambridge

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27 October 28 October 29
10am – 3pm ALL SITES
CLOSED		 11am – 7pm 10am – 5pm 11am – 7pm 10am – 5pm 10am -5pm

The Election Commission office located 51 Inman Street will NOT be an early voting location for the Municipal Election, November 2, 2021. Voters must go to one of the designated early voting locations listed above.

Official Ballot Drop Box Locations

Official ballot drop boxes will be available at the following six (6) locations for Cambridge voters beginning Friday, October 9, 2021 through Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 8:00pm. The drop boxes will be open from 7:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Sunday.

  1. City Hall – Near the back door of the building located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue
  2. Morse School – Near the front entrance of the building located at 40 Granite Street
  3. Cambridge Police Headquarters – Near the front of the building located at 125 6th Street
  4. Maria L. Baldwin School – Near the Oxford Street entrance of the building located at 28 Sacramento Street
  5. O’Neill Library – Adjacent to the entrance stairs of the building located at 70 Rindge Avenue
  6. Coffon Building – Near the front of the building located at 51 Inman Street (see note below)

Note: Location #6 located in the front of the Coffon Building is already open for use.

Relocation of Some Polling Sites & Voting on Election Day

Voting on Election Day will still be available for those who want to vote at the polls. Some polling sites were relocated for the upcoming Municipal Election on November 2, 2021. Your polling site location will be in the same ward and precinct or near your regular polling site for voter convenience and to minimize voter confusion. In the next few weeks, voters will receive an Early Voting Guide and a Voter Notification Card in the mail that will have information pertaining to where you vote, any relocated polling sites and other important election related information. Please refer to the voter information which will be mailed to you over the next few weeks. A list of wards/precincts and polling sites are available below, so you know where to go if you choose to vote on Election Day. The highlighted locations were relocated for the 2021 Municipal Election.

2021 Polling Sites

Precinct      Location
Ward 1
1-1 COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL OF CAMBRIDGE, 245 Bent Street, Main Entrance
1-2 COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL OF CAMBRIDGE, 245 Bent Street, Main Entrance
1-3 MILLER RIVER APARTMENTS, 15 Lambert Street, Cambridge Street entrance
Ward 2
2-1 PISANI CENTER, 131 Washington Street
2-2 M.I.T., Kresge Auditorium, behind Stratton Center, 70 Mass. Avenue
2-3 M.I.T., Kresge Auditorium, behind Stratton Center, 70 Mass. Avenue
Ward 3
3-1 VALENTE BRANCH LIBRARY, 826 Cambridge Street, Side Entrance on Berkshire Street
3-2 MOSES YOUTH CENTER, 243 Harvard Street, Lower Level, Rear Entrance
3-2A MOSES YOUTH CENTER, 243 Harvard Street, Lower Level, Rear Entrance
3-3 SALVATION ARMY HEADQUARTERS, 402 Massachusetts Avenue
Ward 4
4-1 CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTER, 5 Callender Street, Howard Street Entrance
4-2 CITY HALL, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Driveway Entrance
4-3 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SCHOOL, 102 Putnam Avenue, Playground Gym Entrance
Ward 5
5-1 LBJ APARTMENTS, 150 Erie Street, Community Room (Parking Lot Entrance)
5-2 MORSE SCHOOL, 40 Granite Street, Main Entrance
5-3 MORSE SCHOOL, 40 Granite Street, Main Entrance
Ward 6
6-1 CITY HALL ANNEX, 344 Broadway Conference Room, Second Floor
6-2 CAMBRIDGE RINDGE & LATIN SCHOOL, 459 Broadway, Media Cafeteria, Cambridge Street Entrance
6-3 CAMBRIDGE RINDGE & LATIN SCHOOL, 459 Broadway, Media Cafeteria, Cambridge Street Entrance
Ward 7
7-1 BALDWIN SCHOOL, Community Floor, 28 Sacramento Street entrance
7-2 BALDWIN SCHOOL, Community Floor, 28 Sacramento Street entrance
7-3 GUND HALL, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge Street Entrance
Ward 8
8-1 GRAHAM AND PARKS SCHOOL, 44 Linnaean St., playground entrance
8-2 FRIENDS CENTER, 5 Longfellow Park, Community Room
8-3 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SCHOOL, 102 Putnam Avenue, Playground Gym Entrance
Ward 9
9-1 HOLY TRINITY ARMENIAN CHURCH, 145 Brattle Street, Parking Lot Entrance on Sparks Street
9-2 CAMBRIDGE WATER DEPARTMENT, 250 Fresh Pond Parkway
9-3 RUSSELL YOUTH CENTER, 680 Huron Avenue, Second Floor
Ward 10
10-1 PEABODY SCHOOL GYM, 70 Rindge Avenue, Rear Entrance
10-2 GRAHAM AND PARKS SCHOOL, 44 Linnaean Street., Playground Entrance
10-3 CAMBRIDGE FRIENDS SCHOOL, 5 Cadbury Road, Front Entrance
Ward 11
11-1 RESERVOIR CHURCH, 170 Rindge Avenue, Rear Entrance
11-2 PEABODY SCHOOL GYM, 70 Rindge Avenue, Rear Entrance
11-3 BURNS APARTMENTS, 50 Churchill Avenue, Community Room

Voters are encouraged to wear a mask or face covering in the early voting locations and on Election Day at polling sites to help mitigate public health risks associated with COVID-19.

The PACs are choosing up sides

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,elections — Tags: , , — Robert Winters @ 7:19 pm

The PACs are choosing up sides

Sept 29 – Cambridge has a growing presence of Political Action Committees each trying to influence how you vote. What each of them stands for is a bit muddy in spite of their various pronouncements and what will surely soon be slick mailings to Cambridge voters. At least two of these entities have migrated to the “Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee” mode in order to be able to accept (and spend) more money under the debatable theory that they are operating independently of any of the campaigns of specific candidates.Vote!

Interestingly, all but one have so far ignored the School Committee unlike in years past when an actual civic organization like the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) put at least as much effort into its School Committee endorsements as it did into its City Council endorsements.

Anyway, the current scorecard is below. Note the crossover of candidates who appear on multiple slates and, perhaps just as significantly, the exclusion of some candidates from particular slates that actually align with in terms of policy positions. Make no mistake about it – the primary role of most candidate slates is incumbency protection and the last thing a PAC want is to have one of their challengers bump off one of their incumbents. The remaining candidates are a mix of candidates who might add to the PAC’s elected ranks as well as some “feeders” whose role is to draw in votes to the slate that will be transferred to other slate candidates upon defeat. Needless to say, nobody will ever openly tell a candidate that they are primarily a “feeder”. RW

PAC A Better Cambridge
(ABC)		 Cambridge Citizens
Coalition (CCC)		 Cambridge Residents
Alliance (CResA)		 Our Revolution
Cambridge (ORC)
Endorsed
Candidates		 Burhan Azeem
Tonia Hicks
Alanna Mallon
Marc McGovern
Joe McGuirk
Sumbul Siddiqui
Denise Simmons
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler
Paul Toner		 Dana Bullister
Dennis Carlone
Patricia Nolan
Nicola Williams		 Dennis Carlone
Tonia Hicks
Patricia Nolan
Theodora Skeadas
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler
Nicola Williams
Quinton Zondervan		 Dennis Carlone
Tonia Hicks
Theodora Skeadas
Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler
Nicola Williams
Quinton Zondervan
 
School Committee:
Daria Johnson
José Luis Rojas Villarreal
David Weinstein
Rachel Weinstein
Ayesha Wilson

2021 Proposed Cambridge Reprecincting Plan

Filed under: Cambridge,elections — Tags: , , , , — Robert Winters @ 7:14 pm

2021 PROPOSED REPRECINCTING PLAN
Request for Public Feedback

City SealSept 30, 2021 – The Election Commission is seeking feedback from the public regarding its proposed reprecincting plan. Members of the public are invited to join the Board of Election Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, at 5:30pm via Zoom. The Current Ward and Precinct Map (based on 2010 census), Proposed Ward and Precinct Map (based on 2020 census), Proposed Map with Current Precinct Boundary Overlay, and the 2020 Population by Census Block Map can be viewed at https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/ElectionCommission/Reprecincting

Current Ward and Precinct Map (based on 2010 census)

Proposed Ward and Precinct Map (based on 2020 census)

Proposed Map with Current Precinct Boundary Overlay

2020 Population by Census Block Map

Written comments, questions, or suggestions can be sent by email to elections@cambridgema.gov or by mail to 51 Inman Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. Written comments should be submitted by Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 5:00pm to be considered at the 5:30pm meeting.

2021 Cambridge Reprecincting Proposal

The population of Cambridge increased from 105,162 in 2010 to 118,403 in the 2020 US Census, however, the changes were not evenly distributed throughout the city. Some precincts increased dramatically in population, while others stayed the same or decreased. With 33 precincts, each precinct must have a population within 5% of 3,588. Any change that is made in one precinct has a cascading effect on the entire map as other precincts will need to be adjusted to keep the population of every precinct within that range.

The Board of Election Commissioners took a number of factors into consideration in creating this proposal, such as minimizing the number of voters who need to cross major thoroughfares in order to vote and keeping most voters in the same precincts whenever possible. It should be noted that reprecincting changes will not take effect until the 2022 elections. Some of the current polling locations may be changed in 2022 in order to better accommodate voters under the new map.

What is Reprecincting?

Every ten years after the Federal Census is complete, new ward and precinct boundary lines are drawn to reflect changes in the City’s population and to anticipate the needs of the City’s election system for the next decade.

Voting precincts established by a city or town must meet the following requirements:

  • Each new precinct must be “composed of compact and contiguous territory” without protruding fingers or long tails to the extent possible.
  • Precincts must be bounded by the center-line of streets or other well defined boundaries such as streams or other bodies of water, railroad tracks, power lines or other clearly visible geographic figures.
  • No precinct may contain more than 4,000 residents.
  • Every precinct’s population must be within five percent (5%) of the average precinct population for that ward or town.
  • Ward populations must be within five percent (5%) of the average ward population for the city.
  • Redrawn ward and precinct boundaries must not result in the dilution of minority group members’ votes.

September 28, 2021

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the votingest of them all?

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,elections — Tags: , , , , — Robert Winters @ 6:50 pm

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the votingest of them all?Vote!

Sept 28 – Political campaign organizations love to do “opposition research” on other candidates. One of the things they often inquire about is voting history. Fortunately, I have all that data on hand, so allow me to save you the trouble. Bear in mind that younger candidates, recently naturalized citizens, and candidates who only recently moved to Cambridge (or moved back to Cambridge) are at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of the totals. Though I have all the voter histories for 45 city-wide elections going back to 1997, here are the voting records for just the November elections (24 of them). [Note: It’s possible that some records were corrected in the intervening years, but the table below comes from the original voter history files with some updates I made over the years as better information became available.] – Robert Winters

Candidate reg_date n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 Total
Fantini, Alfred B. 7/9/1982 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 24
Nolan, Patricia M. 10/5/1992 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 24
Simmons, E. Denise 6/1/1987 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 24
Toner, Paul F. 8/18/1984 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 24
Carlone, Dennis J. 10/4/1980 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n06 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 22
McGovern, Marc C. 9/30/1994 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 22
Moree, Gregg J.  4/18/1984 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n20 21
Weinstein, David J. 8/28/2002 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 19
Zondervan, Quinton Y. 6/4/2004 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 17
Mallon, Alanna M. 9/27/2004 n04 n06 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 15
Williams, Nicola A. 8/30/2006 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 15
Hunter, Caroline M. 7/19/2021 n97 n98 n99 n00 n01 n02 n03 n04 n05 n06 n07 n08 n09 n10 14
Johnson, Daria A. 6/24/1996 n00 n03 n04 n07 n08 n12 n13 n14 n16 n18 n19 n20 12
Weinstein, Rachel B. 7/28/2009 n09 n10 n11 n12 n13 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 12
Lim, Christopher 7/18/2006 n06 n08 n10 n12 n14 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 10
McGuirk, Joe 3/5/2010 n10 n12 n13 n14 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 9
Siddiqui, Sumbul 6/6/2006 n14 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 7
Levy, Ilan 7/13/2015 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 6
Pierre, Frantz 6/21/2003 n05 n08 n10 n11 n12 n15 6
Rojas Villarreal, José Luis 9/19/2015 n15 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 6
Bullister, Dana 6/4/2016 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 5
Skeadas, Theodora Theo 6/10/2016 n16 n17 n18 n19 n20 5
Azeem, Burhan 10/14/2015 n16 n17 n19 n20 4
Bhambi, Akriti 8/6/2018 n18 n19 n20 3
Hicks, Tonia D. 8/15/2018 n18 n19 n20 3
Sobrinho-Wheeler, Jivan 3/28/2018 n18 n19 n20 3
Wilson, Ayesha 11/14/2017 n18 n19 n20 3
Eckstut, Robert 8/8/2019 n19 n20 2

September 21, 2021

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 517-518: September 21, 2021

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,covid,elections — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 10:53 pm

Episode 517 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 21, 2021 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Sept 21, 2021 at 6:00pm. Topics: Covid updates; municipal elections; candidate forums; political endorsements; “pledging” to not consider other opinions; slates as incumbency protection; dictating “the issues”. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 518 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 21, 2021 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Sept 21, 2021 at 6:30pm. Topics: Boston and Somerville preliminary elections; lefties vs. townies; Cambridge ballot questions and consequences; in search of the city manager search; major appointments and exits; the inescapable problem of Central Square drug abuse. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

August 20, 2021

Ballots and Recreation – NYC Mayoral Primary

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,elections — Tags: , , — Robert Winters @ 1:33 pm

Ballots and Recreation

Aug 20, 2021 – I was able to download all of the Ranked Choice ballot data from the June 22, 2021 New York City Primary Election and do some analysis and simulations of the Democratic Mayoral Primary in which Eric Adams was elected (after some unfortunate glitches in the ballot tabulation by NYC officials). Here are some takeaways from my “recreation” over the last day:Ballot box

(1) Managing over a million ballots is a lot harder than the measly ~22,000 ballots we might expect for our Cambridge municipal elections. In fact, in my attempt to use the tabulation software that we use here in Cambridge (ChoicePlusPro), it broke when it had loaded about 233,000 of the 1,040,485 NYC ballots – and that was after I had deleted all of the other data related to the many other elections taking place in that primary. One of these days I’ll try again using different tabulation software, but it was worth the effort even if only to learn what the upper limit of the Cambridge PR tabulation software is.

(2) Since we began doing our PR elections in 1941, the maximum number of voters in our municipal election was 40,546 (in 1949). The minimum was 13,721 (in 2007). The median over all 40 of our municipal elections is 25,888 and the mean is 26,480. In recent years the number of people voting was 17,846 in 2013, 17,959 in 2015, 22,581 in 2017, and 21,321 in 2019. There has been much speculation about what the turnout might be this year with the availability of Early Voting and Mail-In Voting with many people expecting an increase in turnout (and some campaigns planning to affect that turnout).

(3) After I broke the Cambridge tabulation software when trying to run the NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary data, I went back to the old fashioned tools to do The Count “by hand”, i.e. using Microsoft Excel to methodically do all the sorting and ballot transfers. It took some time, but my results were quite close to the results released by the NYC Board of Elections. The only difference, I believe, has to do with how NYC handles undervoted ballots (skipped preferences) and overvoted rankings (same rank for more than one candidate). In my simulations I simply ignored all missing rankings and overvotes, but I believe NYC handles overvotes more harshly. In any case, I ended up with Eric Adams at 50.44% over Kathryn Garcia at 49.56%. The official results were Adams at 50.45% and Garcia at 49.55%. I also did an extra Round to see how many votes would be credited to Adams had Garcia’s ballots been transferred, and Adams ended up being ranked on 56.38% of all ballots cast. There were 13 candidates and voters were allowed to rank up to 5 candidates.

One of the New York City mayoral candidates was Paperboy Love Prince. It was interesting to see that when Paperboy was counted out with 4,195 votes to transfer, Maya Wiley, the candidate backed by Bernie Sanders and the Revolution, got 1,726 of his ballots – nearly four times as many transfers from Paperboy than any other candidate. – Robert Winters

August 18, 2021

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 515-516: August 17, 2021

Filed under: 2021 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,elections — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 12:26 pm

Episode 515 – Cambridge InsideOut: Aug 17, 2021 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Aug 17, 2021 at 6:00pm. Topics: Baseball; Covid updates; recent gun violence; the wisdom of Christine Elow and Ellen Semonoff; pathways for Cambridge young people; Port Pride Day. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 516 – Cambridge InsideOut: Aug 17, 2021 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Aug 17, 2021 at 6:30pm. Topics: Election updates – early voting and mail-in voting; voter turnout speculation; Boston and Somerville mayoral elections; political organizations, slates, & Independent Expenditure PACs; Candidate Pages & leveling the playing field; social media, retail politics; US Census data. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

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