WESTERN MASS. – Ahead of the Sept. 1 Primary Election, residents in Westfield and Southwick are taking advantage of early voting by mail.

In Westfield, City Clerk Karen Fanion said via email there have already been requests for over 5,000 mailed in ballots in different waves.

She wrote, “4,300 ballots were sent out on Aug. 7 and 300 went out on Aug. 12. Five-hundred more requests were received on Aug. 11 and those were processed and mailed out by Aug. 14.”

She added that so far, the process has been smooth. “At this point, the vote by mail ballots have been delivered and returned in a timely manner. Four-thousand three hundred vote by mail ballots were mailed on Friday, Aug. 7 and most were delivered by Monday, Aug. 10,” she wrote.

Fanion added that for residents in Wards 2A and 2B planning on voting in person, the polling location is now at Westfield Middle School instead of the Senior Center for both the Sept. 1 Primary and Nov. 3 Presidential Elections.

She wrote, “The change of location was necessary because the Senior Center is being used to prepare and distribute lunches to the seniors. The Westfield Middle School is less than a mile from the Senior Center, it is handicap accessible, and is large enough for social distancing.”

As of Aug. 13 Southwick, Town Clerk Michelle Hill said via email that over 1,000 ballots have been mailed out to residents.

She said that one of the biggest issues now is that some residents are not filling out their ballots properly.

“There are several scenarios but the most common is the ‘no party’ (unenrolled) for the primary. Many that are not registered in a party [are] failing to tell us their party choice. They will not receive a ballot if they don’t follow up to our communication,” she said.

Hill added that while it is not required, she is reaching out to residents with applications that have not been filled out correctly. “We are not obligated to reach out per the State Elections Division, however, as the town clerk, I strongly feel a good attempt on our end lets people know how important elections are,” she said.

For both Southwick and Westfield, residents must apply for mail in voting by the Aug. 26 deadline and return their ballots to Town Hall and City Hall by Sept. 1 for their votes to be counted. Both will also offer early in-person voting at different times between Aug. 22 and 28.

Along with the early voting and mail in options, residents can vote at their respective polling locations for both the State Primary and Presidential Election.