tl;dr – check your voter registration here, it’ll tell you where to vote. On election day (Tuesday, November 7th!), if you’re voting in the Cambridge election, rank as many candidates as you want (ideally at least 3). If your top-ranked candidate doesn’t win, or doesn’t need your vote, your vote will transfer to lower-ranked candidates.
2017 Elections
There are no federal or Massachusetts state elections this fall, but Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and many other cities are having municipal elections on Tuesday, November 7th! Cambridge is electing its nine-seat City Council and six-seat School Committee. These elections are nonpartisan and at-large, meaning there are no districts, and all voters can choose from all candidates.
In addition, Boston is electing its mayor and city council, and Somerville is electing its mayor, school committee, and board of aldermen.
The election will be held on Tuesday, November 7th, from 7 AM to 8 PM. If you are registered in Massachusetts, you can find your polling location by entering your address into this website - or, if you live at a dorm or FSILG, see below.
Alpha Delta Phi, Random Hall, WILG, Zeta Psi: LAFAYETTE SQUARE FIRE HOUSE - 378 MASS AVE, SIDNEY ST ENTRANCE.
Ashdown, Pika, Sidney-Pacific: MORSE SCHOOL - 40 GRANITE ST, MAIN ENTRANCE
Alpha Tau Omega, Baker, Burton-Conner, Delta Kappa Epsilon, No 6, East Campus, Eastgate, Edgerton House, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Sigma, MacGregor, Maseeh, McCormick, New, Next, Phi Beta Epsilon, Senior House / 70 Amherst, Simmons, Tang, Theta Delta Chi, the Warehouse, Westgate: MIT KRESGE AUDITORIUM - 70 MASS AVE.
Ashdown, Pika, Sidney-Pacific: MORSE SCHOOL - 40 GRANITE ST, MAIN ENTRANCE
Alpha Tau Omega, Baker, Burton-Conner, Delta Kappa Epsilon, No 6, East Campus, Eastgate, Edgerton House, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Sigma, MacGregor, Maseeh, McCormick, New, Next, Phi Beta Epsilon, Senior House / 70 Amherst, Simmons, Tang, Theta Delta Chi, the Warehouse, Westgate: MIT KRESGE AUDITORIUM - 70 MASS AVE.
Chi Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Nu Delta, Phi Kappa Sigma, Pi Lambda Phi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Theta Chi: SAINT CECILIA PARISH - 18 BELVIDERE STREET. GROUND LEVEL GLASS DOORS, VOTE IN PARISH HALL.
99 Bay State Road (LCA), Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Kappa, Student House, Theta Xi: BU - KILACHAND HALL, 91 BAY STATE ROAD, VOTE IN ROOM #101, KILACHAND COMMONS.
Phi Kappa Theta, Tau Epsilon Phi: COPLEY SQUARE LIBRARY - 700 BOYLSTON ST. VOTER ENTRANCE DARTMOUTH STREET. VOTE IN GUASTAVINO ROOM OF THE MCKIM BUILDING.
Fenway House, Sigma Nu: MORVILLE HOUSE - 100 NORWAY STREET, VOTE IN COMMUNITY ROOM. VOTER ENTRANCE EDGERLY ROAD
99 Bay State Road (LCA), Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Kappa, Student House, Theta Xi: BU - KILACHAND HALL, 91 BAY STATE ROAD, VOTE IN ROOM #101, KILACHAND COMMONS.
Phi Kappa Theta, Tau Epsilon Phi: COPLEY SQUARE LIBRARY - 700 BOYLSTON ST. VOTER ENTRANCE DARTMOUTH STREET. VOTE IN GUASTAVINO ROOM OF THE MCKIM BUILDING.
Fenway House, Sigma Nu: MORVILLE HOUSE - 100 NORWAY STREET, VOTE IN COMMUNITY ROOM. VOTER ENTRANCE EDGERLY ROAD
Not in 2017. Early voting is only offered in Massachusetts when there are federal or state elections.
Yes. If you are unable to vote at the polls in-person on Election Day, you will have to request an absentee ballot (or vote over-the-counter at the Cambridge Elections Office) ahead of time. See here for details.
In Cambridge's ranked-choice voting system, you only have one vote, but you rank multiple candidates (as many as you want) on the ballot. That way, if your top-ranked candidate gets more votes than they need to win, or if they do not get enough #1 votes and are eliminated, your vote can transfer to the next-ranked candidate. In practice, most voters' votes go to one of their top three candidates, so even though nine candidates will be elected, you do not need to rank nine candidates if you don't want to! The most important choice to make is which candidate to rank #1.
For more details, see these two Youtube videos, which describe single transferable vote systems like Cambridge's. Alternatively, read pages 5 and 6 of Cambridge's official voter guide.