Ahead of Registration Deadline, Framingham’s City Clerk Preps for Local Election

FRAMINGHAM - Framingham City Clerk Lisa Ferguson and her team are hard at work ahead of the citywide election on Tuesday, November 4.

Ferguson told The Frame that even in a time where major federal or state-level positions are not on the ballot, she and her team have to prepare as if 2025 were a major election year. She explained that their work includes testing balloting machines, aligning other necessary equipment to tabulate all of the local votes, and ensuring that mail-in voters know what they have to do to cast their ballots.

“My election staff is very small—I only have two people in the election department for a city this large—but they are very good at what they do,” Ferguson continued.

Ferguson said that about 1,000 people in Framingham have requested a mail-in ballot as of mid-October. With that, her office is working on outreach efforts to those who have inquired. While she recognized that not everyone who requests a mail-in ballot will end up returning it, Ferguson asked that those who are doing so complete them soon, as the office needs all of those ballots collected by 8 o’clock on the night of the election.

“The election is quickly approaching, so what we are asking people—the voters who are voting by mail—to fill out their ballot as soon as possible,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson added that it’s preferred that mail-in ballots are either delivered directly to the City Clerk’s office or dropped into a collection box. One of those boxes is located behind the Memorial Building, while another is at the McAuliffe Library along Water Street. Ferguson said that sending a ballot through the mail will not guarantee that it is counted in time.

While the 2025 local election will not have an early voting option, Ferguson pointed to the absentee voting option as another alternative for people looking to participate. It’s available to those who will not be in Framingham on Election Day during polling hours (7 a.m. to 8 p.m.), along with those with a disability or a religious belief that would prevent them from heading to the polls on Election Day as well as non-registered voters who live internationally or are in the military.

“In those cases, people can vote in our office in-person,” Ferguson explained.

“We have to have the application by 12 p.m. the day before the election.”

Regardless of how people do it, Ferguson said it’s rewarding to see residents exercise their right to vote—whether they’re new voters registering to take part in the civic process for the first time or if they’re citizens who have voted time and time again.

“Everyone is always talking about how important it is for the bigger state elections, the presidential election. But, it all starts at the local level,” Ferguson told The Frame.

Ferguson said that “every vote counts,” especially in local elections that can be decided by thin margins.

Saturday, October 25 is the deadline to register for the election in Framingham. Residents can do so in person until 5 o’clock that evening and until 11:59 p.m. online. Additional information can be found on the City Clerk’s web page, and residents are also encouraged to either visit or call the office at 508-532-5521 with any questions they may have.

5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, is deadline to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot.