If you haven’t mailed your mail-in primary ballot yet, don’t

Voters who still have yet to return their mail-in ballots for the upcoming primary elections should not put them in the mail, Secretary of State William Galvin said Thursday. 

Election day is Sept. 1. Voters had until Aug. 25 to apply for mail-in ballots. These mail-in ballots need to reach local election offices or drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when polls close. 

Since time is running out before election day, Galvin said that voters who choose to return their ballots by mail at this point risk them not being delivered before the deadline on Tuesday. Instead, he urged voters to vote in person or deposit their ballots in drop boxes. 

More than 100,000 mail-in ballots sent to voters had still not been received by the state when Galvin addressed the media Thursday, per State House News Service. 

“They have the right to go in and vote in person should they choose to, but we strongly recommend if they were going to vote by mail, do not mail the ballot,” Galvin said. “It’s too late.” 

Early voting began on Aug. 20 and ends Friday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Residents can check their registration status, track their mail-in ballots, find a drop box, view sample ballots, find their polling location, and more through the Secretary of State’s website.

Galvin also said that he expects to see a higher turnout Tuesday than during the primary elections in the 2022 midterms. That year, some 777,000 Democratic ballots and 275,000 Republican ballots were cast. Galvin estimated that there could be around 800,000 Democratic and 280,000 Republican ballots cast this year, per SNHS. 

There are only two statewide races up for grabs in these primaries. Rep. Seth Moulton is challenging Sen. Ed Markey for his Senate seat in the Democratic primary, while Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve are competing in the Republican gubernatorial primary for a chance to take on Gov. Maura Healey in November.