Dedham voters will face nine statewide ballot questions and a contested Norfolk District Attorney race when they head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The town has published its sample ballot, a two-card document giving residents their first detailed look at the races and questions that will appear on Election Day. The ballot is labeled number 473 and is the specimen version of the official early and absentee ballot.
Local and congressional races
State Rep. Paul McMurtry, a Democrat who chairs the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee, is running unopposed for re-election in the Eleventh Norfolk District.
Only a write-in line accompanies his name.
The Eighth Congressional District race has the largest field on the Dedham ballot, with three candidates listed: incumbent Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, a Democrat from Boston; Republican Robert Gerald Burke of 98 Taylor Ave., Dedham; and independent Rasheed Nicholas Walters of Boston.
For Norfolk District Attorney, Djuna Elizabeth Perkins of Dedham faces Joseph Michael Pagliarulo of Millis, who is running as unenrolled. Perkins, 58, won a seven-way Democratic primary on Sept. 1 with about 29 percent of the vote, the Boston Globe reported.
"It showed that I was willing to challenge an incumbent," Perkins told the Globe in September after her primary win. "I've spent my entire career working with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and other crimes as well."
The U.S. Senate race features incumbent Democrat Edward J. Markey against Republican John Deaton, independent Shiva Ayyadurai and Joe Tache of the Socialism and Liberation party. The governor's race pits the Healey-Driscoll Democratic ticket against Republican candidates Minogue and Oliver and independents James and Kittredge.
Persis S. Yu, a Democrat, is the only candidate listed for the Norfolk and Suffolk District state Senate seat. Thomas Robert Polito Jr. of Dedham is running unopposed for a four-year term on the Blue Hills Regional School Committee.
Nine ballot questions
The ballot carries nine statewide questions. Eight are initiative petitions; the ninth is a referendum on an existing firearms law.
Among the most locally relevant: Question 7 would allow single-family homes on residentially zoned lots of at least 5,000 square feet with 50 feet of street frontage and access to public sewer and water, subject to reasonable local regulation. Question 9 asks voters whether to keep a 2024 firearms law that covers ghost guns, bump stocks, expanded extreme risk protection orders, and a ban on carrying firearms in government buildings, polling locations, and schools. A yes vote keeps the law; a no vote repeals it.
Other questions cover opening legislative and governor's records to public records law (Question 1), collective bargaining for public counsel employees (Question 2), replacing party primaries with a single all-party primary (Question 3), Election Day voter registration starting Jan. 1, 2028 (Question 4), capping state revenue collection with excess refunded to taxpayers (Question 5), creating a conservation fund from taxes on sporting goods and recreational vehicles (Question 6) and repealing retail recreational marijuana sales while keeping personal possession legal (Question 8).
Key dates and contact
The voter registration deadline is Oct. 24. Vote-by-mail applications are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 27. Early voting runs Oct. 17 through Oct. 30, according to the Dedham Town Clerk's elections page. Polls on Election Day are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Residents with questions can contact the Town Clerk's Office at Town Hall, 450 Washington St., or call 781-751-9200.
