Massachusetts voters make their way to polls for primary election amid heavy rain

Voters across Massachusetts braved rainy conditions to head to the polls Tuesday to take part in the state’s primary election.

While Secretary of State Bill Galvin said last week his office was not expecting record-high turnout, about 1.1 million voters are expected to cast ballots in an election with several key statewide offices up for grabs.

Polls opened across the state at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m. in nearly all communities. The biggest community on Cape Cod, however, was an exception.

The Barnstable town clerk had trouble opening the vault containing the ballots on Tuesday morning, delaying the opening of polls there. Galvin received special court permission to allow voting to continue in Barnstable until midnight.

Elsewhere, the main obstacle to making it the polls seemed to be the weather. Those who did not cast ballots by mail or vote early had to contend with heavy rains to do so.

WBUR is offer updates on live election results. Some of the critical races to watch include the Republican gubernatorial race; primaries for both major parties for the role of lieutenant governor; and hotly contested Democratic primaries for the roles of attorney general, secretary of state and state auditor. (If you're still undecided, here's a breakdown of broad strokes in those big contests.)

Lori Butts, who cast her vote in Saugus on Tuesday morning, said she would be most closely watching the governor's race. She wouldn't share who she was voting for, but said she was motivated most by who she does not want to see on the ballot in November's general election.

"I want to make sure the candidate that is backed by former President Trump, [Geoff] Diehl, is not on the ballot," Butts said. "That's my major concern right now."

Brian Walsh, another Saugus voter, said he voted for Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell for attorney general.

"She's kind of been working for the working people more than ... [Shannon] Liss-Riordan," Walsh said. "And so, yeah, I just thought she'd be better for the working people of Massachusetts."

This year, an expanded voter access law made mail-in voting permanent and mandated that all towns and cities offer early voting hours over one full week ahead of the state primary. This means many people have already voted in Tuesday's races.

About 700,000 residents requested vote-by-mail ballots, with more than half of those voters listed as unenrolled, or so-called independent voters. More than 22% of independent voters pulled Republican ballots, Galvin's office said.

As of last Thursday, election offices had reported receiving roughly 345,000 mail-in ballots, with the overwhelming majority — more than 80% — casting votes in Democratic primaries.

If you requested a mail-in ballot, Galvin warned last week that it is well past the point where you can mail your ballot and have it counted. You can either drop off your ballot at your town or city's election office before 8 p.m. Tuesday, or simply opt to vote in person at your designated polling location.

(Here's how you can track whether your ballot was received by your municipality's election office. And, here's how you can find your polling location. While most voters won't have to show a legal form of ID to vote, here are some examples of when you might need identification.)

Beyond the primaries for state offices, voters will weigh in on various other races down the ballot, including several critical district attorney contests. As polls close, we'll also provide race calls from The Associated Press for the contested district attorney elections in Massachusetts.

With reporting from WBUR's Walter Wuthmann and WBUR's News Desk