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Winchester’s annual town election will take place March 21, giving voters the opportunity to select officeholders for positions that guide municipal policy, oversee town departments and manage the budget.
The annual town election will put races for town moderator, the Select Board, the School Committee and a range of other municipal posts on the ballot. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For voters, the choices can feel both small and immense. These are the roles that set policy, sign off on budgets, oversee public health and schools and keep the machinery of local government turning. The ballot will also determine dozens of Town Meeting members, the people who, in a roomful of neighbors, collectively serve as Winchester’s legislative body.
Across Winchester’s eight precincts, voters will elect 64 Town Meeting members to serve in the 192-member body. Each precinct has eight three-year seats available, with shorter terms mixed in - one two-year vacancy in Precinct 2 and three one-year spots in Precinct 5.
At the townwide level, the election will decide one-year and three-year terms on several bodies:
- Town moderator Philip Frattaroli (one-year term)
- Select Board member Michelle Prior (three-year term)
- Board of Assessors chair Richard Michienzi (three-year term)
- Board of Health chair Dr. Gregory Sawicki (three-year term)
- Planning Board members Keri Layton and Nicholas Rossettos (two three-year terms)
- School Committee member Michelle Bergstrom (three-year term)
- Board of Library Trustees chair Angela Murdough and member Victoria Garcia-Albea (two three-year terms)
The window to join the ballot opens Jan. 2, 2026, when nomination papers become available at the Town Clerk’s office in Town Hall, 71 Mt. Vernon St. Papers must be obtained by Jan. 28, 2026, and returned with sufficient signatures by noon Jan. 30, 2026.
Candidates for townwide office need 50 signatures from registered voters. Town Meeting candidates need 10 signatures from the candidate’s precinct. Incumbent Town Meeting members can get on the ballot by notifying the clerk in writing by Feb. 13.
For those planning to vote, key deadlines include March 11, 2026, to register, 5 p.m. March 16, 2026, to request a mail-in ballot and noon March 20, 2026, to apply for an absentee ballot.
The clerk’s office maintains an official list of candidates as they file papers to run. More election information can be found at https://www.winchester.us/641/Annual-Town-Election.
Voting in the 2026 town election
Voters who will be out of town on Election Day, Saturday, March 21, 2026, or who have a disability may cast absentee ballots in the Town Clerk’s Office beginning Monday, March 2. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is noon Friday, March 20, 2026.
Vote-by-mail applications are being accepted and will be processed upon receipt.
In-person early voting begins Saturday, March 14, in the Winchester Room at Town Hall, first floor, 71 Mount Vernon St.
Early voting schedule (in person):
- Saturday, March 14: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
- Monday, March 16: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
- Tuesday, March 17: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
- Wednesday, March 18: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
- Thursday, March 19: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
- Friday, March 20: 8 a.m.-noon, Winchester Room, Town Hall (first floor)
Questions should go to Town Clerk MaryEllen Marshall at 781-721-7130 or mmarshall@winchester.us.
Will Dowd is a Massachusetts journalist who covers municipal government and community life for Winchester News. He previously co-founded the Marblehead Current and now runs The Marblehead Independent, a reader-funded digital newsroom.
