Some Medford residents experienced issues at polling stations during September preliminary election
During the Sept. 16 preliminary elections for Medford City Council, multiple Medford residents were told that they were no longer active voters on the voter roll. Massachusetts law requires cities to send a census every January, requiring all registered voters to confirm that their place of residence is accurate, with voters only being marked as active voters after the Medford Elections Commission receives the census. However, when some voters went to the polls in September, they were told they were inactive, despite having mailed the census.
Medford resident Josh Terrill went to vote in the preliminary elections when a poll worker told him that he had been marked as an inactive voter, even though he filled out and returned the census by mail.
“[A poll worker] said, ‘Look, the census is how we keep people on the active voter roll, but no problem. If you’re comfortable showing us your ID and marking down your address, you’re good to go,’“ Terrill said.
Medford resident Emily Sterling-Graves experienced a similar situation when her husband, William Graves, was told he was an inactive voter. The census requires only one household member to send the census on behalf of the entire family, so Sterling-Graves was surprised that she was an active voter, but her husband was marked as inactive.
https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025/10/some-medford-residents-experienced-issues-at-polling-stations-during-september-preliminary-election