Registered voters can weigh in early on the March 3 presidential primary beginning next Monday and ending on Friday. Unlike traditional polling, voters aren’t required to vote at their assigned polling locations; they can cast ballots at the location that is most convenient to them. No reason has to be given for filing an early ballot.

City Hall be will the “main” early polling location all week long. It will be open for voting on Monday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 a.m., to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

Voting in Dorchester and Mattapan will be held on Thursday from noon to 8 p.m. at All Saints’ Church at 209 Ashmont St. and First Parish Church at 10 Parish St. and at the Mildred Avenue Community Center in Mattapan.

Pop-up polling locations like those in Dorchester and Mattapan will be available throughout the city on Tuesday and Thursday. All ballot styles will be available at every location.

As to absentee ballots, state Secretary William Galvin is recommending that voters submit absentee ballot applications as soon as possible to allow time for the ballot to be mailed to the voter and returned to their city or town hall.  Ballots must be delivered to the local election office by the close of polls on March 3 in order to be counted.

Ward committee voting time

Local Democratic ward committees will soon vote for delegates and alternates to the party’s state convention on May 30 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. 

The panel for Ward 17, which includes parts of Dorchester and Mattapan, will hold its caucus next Tuesday (Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at the Sheet Metal Union Hall, 1157 Adams St., Dorchester. The Ward 18 committee will caucus on Sat., March 7 at 10 a.m. at the Hyde Park Municipal Building.