🗳️😅 *deep breath* It’s Election Day.

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🚛 What’s worse than a Storrowing? Porta-Storrowing. That’s when a truck filled with porta-potties Storrows, knocking said potties onto incoming traffic. We coined the phrase when it happened Monday morning on Memorial Drive (seriously).

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Mass. ramps up ballot security

• How to ditch your crusty pumpkins

• Name that snowplow 

Up first…

ELECTION 2024

What to expect when you’re electing

Welp, it’s Election Day. And whether that fills you with excitement or existential dread, the best things you can do today are 1. Vote. and 2. Take care of yourself.

Here’s our guide for how to do both:

📝 Need a quick ballot refresher? No prob. Regardless of where you live, everyone casting a ballot in Mass. will be voting for president, a U.S. senator, and for the five ballot questions. In case you missed our ballot Q explainers, here’s Boston.com’s guide that takes you through all five.

🙋 Depending where you live, you may also be voting in races for U.S. House reps, state reps, and other local elections for positions like Clerk of Courts, Register of Deeds, County Commissioner, and Governor's Council. You can see exactly what candidates are going to be on your ballot here.

🌟 Bonus: VoteSee, a tool made by Harvard grad students, is a great way to check out your congressional candidates.

✅ If you’ve already voted early or by mail … Sit back and relax! But just to be safe, you can triple check your mail-in ballot here. And on the off-chance there’s no movement, you can still vote in-person today.

🗳️ If you’re voting in-person … You’ll need to do it at your local polling place. Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., and everyone in line by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. If it’s your first time voting in Mass. or you haven’t voted in a while, there’s a chance you’ll be asked to show your ID.

📮 If you’re voting by mail today … You have until 8 p.m. to drop it off at an official dropbox or your local election office. Just remember: you can’t drop it off at your polling place. 

😮‍💨 As for the results, don’t hold your breath. While some races may be decided quickly, most probably won’t be called before you go to sleep. You can check in on results here, but our advice? Just go to bed. Tomorrow morning, we’ll send you a roundup of where the races stand.

💸 In the meantime … we’ve got Election Day freebies! Like … a lot of them:

• Need a ride to the polls? Bluebikes is offering unlimited free two-hour rides today with code BCBSMAVOTE. Or you can get $10 off an Uber (in-app) or Lyft (with code VOTE24) all day.

• Need a sweet treat after voting? Pick up a free mini cannoli at Black Rose bakery on Newbury, or nab a BOGO deal on subs at Pauli’s after 6 p.m. by flashing your “I voted” sticker.

• Need … to hit something? Make it a ping pong ball! SPIN is offering an hour of free play to anyone with a sticker. 

😅 And remember: Airport rules are in effect now through Wednesday (IYKYK).

QUICK QUESTION

🗳️ Who are you voting for in the presidential election?

TOGETHER WITH BOSTON COLLEGE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

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CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🔐 Mass. is ramping up ballot security. If recent headlines are making you nervous about ballot safety, you can rest assured that although Mass. should avoid the brunt of election security issues, officials are doubling down anyway. In anticipation of an “emotional” election season everywhere, local ballot drop boxes have been redesigned to avoid tampering, according to Secretary of State William Galvin. Plus, other towns will take extra measures like adding surveillance footage or increasing police presence at polling places.

💬 Voting for non-English speakers is getting easier. Speaking of election season updates, the city is investing big in resources to help non-English speakers get out the vote. This year, around one-fifth of poll workers will speak a language other than English, plus voters have access to a citywide translator phone bank and a language ID card at the polls. The efforts are meant to help folks make sure they feel comfortable and informed when they’re casting their vote, especially as misinformation about non-citizen voting is circulating.

🎃 Here’s what to do with all those pumpkins you impulse-bought. Hint: Don’t just throw them out (they’ll likely end up in a landfill releasing greenhouse gasses). Instead, think about composting. If you’re already enrolled in Boston’s free composting program, you can pop them in there, but if not, you can also take them to one of the city’s free, 24-hour community food waste bins, which are in many neighborhoods. Just make sure they’re not painted, glittered, or otherwise DIY-ed.

🛍️ What do embroidery, Jordanian cuisine, and baby clothes have in common? They’re all coming to Bow Market this fall. First up, KEEPER, a new, permanent biz at the market that’s bringing back the art of chainstitch embroidery, offering services from monograms to custom projects. Petra is a yearlong pop-up Jordanian eatery that’ll be slinging falafel, lamb chops, and other popular bites. And finally, Bigelow Lane is a sustainable, natural clothing brand for kids based in Cambridge, which will be around for the next few months.

GIVEAWAY

Together with Selfup

Enter to win 2 Gift Cards for a "Romantic Italian Date Night" Cooking Class at Selfup. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Nov 6. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

Name that snowplow!

You might be tempted to call the trucks that rid our streets and highways of snow “snowplows.” But thanks to a bunch of local kids, that’s the MayPlower to you. 

For the third year, MassDOT has opened its name-a-snowplow contest, where kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms are allowed to submit a name for a few of the state’s snowplows, to be picked by MassDOT officials. 

Past winners have included Flower Plower, Edward Blizzardhands, Snow Monstah, Sleetwood Mac, and Fast and Flurryous. But our personal fave might be the Glacier Gobbler.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

❄️ Thanks for reading! We don’t want to make any waves, but we are wondering where all these kids are getting their ’70s and ’90s pop culture references from.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Boston College School of Social Work, for supporting local journalism and empowering the next generation of change-makers.

🚃 The results are in: The Green Line edged out the Red Line by exactly one vote for the most-trafficked line by B-Siders, with 34% of the total. One reader said: “You get used to the screech after a while.” 

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].