The League of Women Voters of Sudbury allows write-in candidates to participate in its videotaped Candidates’ Forum if they are running for an office that has no candidates after the filing deadline has passed.
For the March 29 town election, only one candidate has filed for the two Planning Board seats available. If there is one write-in candidate for the remaining vacancy, the race will be treated as uncontested. If there are two or more write-in candidates for the vacancy, the race will become a contested one with the incumbent, Steve Garvin, who has filed to run, and the write-in candidates invited to participate in a moderated candidates’ panel.
League policy for participation by a write-in candidate in its forum specifies that anyone who sends written notification of his or her intention to be a write-in candidate for an office for which no candidates have filed to the Sudbury Town Clerk by the end of the business day Tuesday, Feb. 23, will be invited to participate in the Candidates’ Forum. An eligible candidate must also be making efforts to inform voters of their candidacy, such as a website, Facebook page, letter to editor and/or signs.
Write-in candidates are not required to file their intention with the town clerk, and may enter the race at any point. The Feb. 23 deadline is only to be considered for the League Candidates’ Forum.
The League does not include write-in candidates in its Candidates’ Forum for offices when there are candidates for those offices who have completed the signature-gathering and filing process. Write-in candidates are invited to participate in the forum only if there are no candidates for an office after the filing process has closed.
Candidates’ Forums for the current three contested races will be recorded via Zoom Feb. 27. Sudbury residents are encouraged to submit questions for Select Board, Sudbury Public Schools (PK-8) School Committee and Goodnow Library Trustees to the League by 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22. Questions may be submitted by email to sudburycandidatesnight@gmail.com or by mailing to Candidates Forum, LWV Sudbury, P.O. Box 338, Sudbury, MA 01776.
The forums will be shown on SudburyTV Channel 8 (Comcast) and Channel 31 (Verizon) and will be repeated frequently throughout the month of March before the election. The forums will also be available on the station’s website, www.sudburytv.org, as a video-on-demand option. The election is Monday, March 29, and the deadline to register to vote in that election is March 9.
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