Barring unforeseen circumstances, today's special Democratic primary election will determine Massachusetts' newest U.S. senator.
On a more local level, Somerville is facing unexpected costs for an election that has garnered little interest among Massachusetts residents.
Four Democratic challengers are seeking the seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley; U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano; Alan Khazei, founder of the youth service organization City Year; and businessman and Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca.
Capuano represents Massachusetts' 8th district, which includes Somerville and Cambridge.
Somerville will have to pay approximately $130,000 to facilitate the special primary and general elections, according to the Somerville Journal.
A Nov. 22 University of New Hampshire poll of 537 likely Democratic voters in Massachusetts showed Coakley leading the pack with 43 percent. Capuano, the next-closest challenger, was 21 points behind. Pagliuca commanded just 15 percent, and Khazei was in a distant fourth with six percent.
But Capuano recently received the Boston Herald's endorsement, while the Boston Globe endorsed Khazei.
The special primary will determine the Democratic Party's nominee to fill the Senate seat held by Kennedy, who represented Massachusetts from 1962 until his death in August. Given Massachusetts' strong Democratic leaning, the winner of the contest will enjoy strong odds in the general election on Jan. 19.
Despite the stakes of the special election, public awareness and interest statewide is remarkably low, a report found.
A 7 News/Suffolk University poll reported early last month that 93 percent of Democratic voters surveyed did not know the date of today's primary. And 73 percent did not even know the month in which the election would occur.
Turnout for the election today has been projected to be low, in part due to the lack of awareness, but also because of the election's unconventional scheduling and the cold weather forecast.
"I don't know the date [of the election], though I know who's running," said Ankit Gupta, a freshman and Massachusetts resident. Gupta said he was unsure of his voter registration status, but will probably support Coakley if he does vote.
Somerville spokesman Tom Champion told the Daily that Somerville publicized the date through its Web site and through special messages that appear on local cable television subscribers' menus.
But increasing turnout is mainly the candidates' job, he said. "The candidates themselves are pushing very hard to publicize the date," Champion said. "We probably couldn't add much to the level of coverage."
The candidates have made an effort over the past several days to garner the vote of undecided residents.
"The average person's not going to vote. I know that,'' Capuano said, the Boston Globe reported yesterday. "It's going to be a handful of people, and the ones who do, they've paid more attention than people realize."
Somerville is paying upwards of $100,000 to hold the special elections, but this is standard practice for local communities, which are often expected to fund special elections, according to Somerville Board of Aldermen President Walter Pero. "The city is responsible for funding special elections when they're called," Pero told the Daily. He said this has been done several times for special elections over the past few years.
City of Somerville Election Department Chair Nicholas Salerno confirmed the figure with the Daily. However, Salerno hopes that Somerville will only have to front the costs of the election for the time being.
"Until local Massachusetts communities are reimbursed, we on the local level are funding the special election," Salerno followed up in a prepared statement. But "the state auditor has declared that … all costs should be paid by the state. Hopefully, the legislature will vote the money and local communities will be reimbursed."
In Somerville, roughly $60,000 per day goes toward covering a wide array of costs associated with orchestrating a special election, Champion said.
"There's a tremendous amount that's specific to preparing for an election that doesn't go on in the normal course of the year" for the elections department, Champion said. "Those costs all add up pretty quickly."
Champion said the money goes toward paying for staffers at polling locations throughout the city's 21 precincts. The city must provide telephone systems for communication between polling places, police officers to staff every location and overtime payment for the elections department officials checking the voting machines and ensuring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The special election is estimated to cost between $5 million and $10 million dollars overall.
