IT’S ELECTION SEASON in Massachusetts, and that means officials, experts, and strategists alike are keeping a watchful eye on voter turnout.
Statewide turnout in the September 1 primary election hit nearly 23 percent — the highest it’s been in a midterm election year since 2006. It’s a promising outcome, suggesting the Bay State could ultimately see higher voter turnout on November 3 than in previous election years. After all, this year’s ballot will feature an unusually high number of widely debated ballot questions, as well as other high-profile races.
But cities like Worcester — where the poverty rate is twice as high as the state’s — may still have trouble getting people to the polls this November. The city’s turnout in this month’s primary was just over 15 percent, though it was a notable increase from the city’s 11.5 percent turnout in the 2024 primary.
During the 2022 midterms, Worcester County’s voter turnout was 51 percent, which mirrored the state average. But, only 38 percent of voters turned out to vote in Worcester, even though it was a year in which the governor was on the ballot. That same year, Worcester had the lowest voter registration rate in the county at 66 percent, while the state’s voter registration rate was 86 percent.
Gateway Cities — some of the state’s most disadvantaged and diverse urban communities — consistently have some of the lowest voter turnout rates in Massachusetts. In 2022, nine of the 10 municipalities with the lowest voter turnout in the state were Gateway Cities, with rates ranging from just 23 percent in Lawrence to 35 percent in Lynn.
The phenomenon is hardly unique to Massachusetts’s low-income cities. A 2023 report published by the Pew Research Center found that those who are least likely to vote are younger, more racially and ethnically diverse, and have received less formal education than likely voters. Research consistently shows that those with higher incomes also vote at higher rates than those with lower incomes. That discrepancy translates to more affluent people and communities having more of a say in who gets elected.
Ahead of the state election this fall, civic organizations in Central Massachusetts and beyond are grappling with how to solve this persistent problem, and how to increase turnout among those who face countless barriers to civic participation.
“We often hear that these voters are disengaged or not particularly interested in politics. I think people need to be careful about saying those things,” said Shanique Rodriguez, executive director of the nonprofit Massachusetts Voter Table, which works to increase voter turnout in Boston and the Gateway Cities. “The people who are least likely to vote are often the people who are most affected by decisions made through policy.”
Rodriguez said those with more economic stability often have more time, flexibility, information, social connections, and transportation means, which makes civic participation much easier. The Voter Table and its partners target voters in Gateway Cities who make $40,000 a year or less, she added, giving them resources and information about registration and voting.
“People who are worried about rent and food are less worried about how they are going to get to the polls, especially when they’re just trying to pay their utility bills or get to their job,” Rodriguez said.
A survey of 800 registered voters conducted in 2026 by the MassINC Polling Group found that 69 percent of respondents in Gateway Cities said it would be easier to get out and vote if public transportation were free on election days. (The polling group is part of the same organization that publishes CommonWealth Beacon.)
Those in Gateway Cities were more likely to say they use public transportation every day than respondents outside of Gateway Cities. Other groups that rely on public transportation were also more likely to think it would make voting easier, including non-white voters (72 percent compared to 46 percent of white voters) and lower-income voters (62 percent compared to 46 percent of higher-income voters).
In Central Massachusetts, the communities with the highest poverty rates — including Worcester, Fitchburg, and Southbridge — have some of the lowest voter turnout rates in the county and the state. During the last midterm election year in 2022, Southbridge saw just 34 percent turnout even though 89 percent of eligible voters were registered. Worcester and Fitchburg saw 38 and 39 percent turnout, respectively.
Despite the uptick in turnout for the primary election this year, Rodriguez predicted that cities like Worcester and Fitchburg will see between 35 and 39 percent turnout again this November. She and Celia Johnston Blue, president of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, say the civic participation problem lies less in registration and more in turnout, especially since the state passed the VOTES Act in 2022, which created automatic voter registration. Before that, Massachusetts passed a law that allowed young people to pre-register at the age of 16. Since then, voter registration across the state has increased.
“More and more people who are registered to vote are experiencing huge economic inequalities,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve done a really good job of removing the barriers to registration, but we haven’t removed some of the other barriers to actually keep people engaged.”
A 2020 report published by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau revealed stark racial disparities when looking at turnout in the 2019 municipal election. In census tracts where white residents represented less than 60 percent of the population, voter turnout was 10 percent. In tracts where white residents made up more than 80 percent of the population, voter turnout was 28 percent. (Municipal elections typically have lower turnout than midterm or presidential years.) In wealthier neighborhoods in Worcester, voter turnout in municipal elections can reach 40 percent, while in lower-income neighborhoods like Main South, it can drop to just 15 percent some years.
The report also noted that in 2019, occupants of single-family homes made up 63 percent of all voters in Worcester, while those living in multi-unit developments represented just 34 percent of voters. (This is despite the fact that 56 percent of Worcester residents live in multi-unit housing structures and 44 percent live in single-family homes.) Single-family homes tend to be owner-occupied while multi-unit buildings tend to be renter-occupied, and people with the means to purchase land and homes have higher incomes, on average, than renters.
Rodriguez explained that in cities like Worcester, poverty often creates residential instability, which affects voter registration and turnout.
“People who are moving constantly face barriers to voting and participation. Often, they’re not re-registering in time or can’t re-register in time for a primary, for example,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez pointed to rent stabilization as one potential solution to the problem, though a controversial ballot question proposed this year that, if passed, would have enacted one of the strictest rent control laws in the nation, was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Judicial Court in June.
In Worcester, municipal election turnout typically lands between 17 percent and 20 percent. Low participation means races can be decided by small margins — sometimes just a few hundred votes.
The consequences of low voter turnout can be dire, said Ann Lisi, vice president of the League of Women Voters Worcester, leading to unresponsive local and state governments.
“It’s a self-fulfilling cycle, because if you’re a voter who is feeling checked out and doesn’t really vote, a habit has been formed. We try to help people overcome that by promoting early voting,” she said.
To help boost already low voter turnout and engagement during municipal election years like 2025, Blue said the Women of Color Coalition has hosted candidate forums featuring local office holders and office seekers.
“That gives people an opportunity to really hear from their candidates, and we try to make sure our diverse communities are part of that audience,” Blue said.
Still, Rodriguez said Gateway Cities have a long way to go before the gaps in voter turnout are closed.
“Increasing voter participation isn’t just about getting more people to the polls,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about making sure that people who have historically had the least amount of power have a meaningful voice in our democracy, and that is just not what’s happening in Massachusetts.”
