Early voting, early exits leave primary feeling a little secondary

The scene at Brookline Town Hall on the first day of the five-day early voting period for the Massachusetts presidential primary.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

With candidates out of the running, many early voters have got to feel a letdown

Massachusetts early voting doesn’t work (“The trouble with early voting,” Opinion, Feb. 28). Secretary of State William Galvin is a savvy and smart guy, but he’s been listening to the wrong people (perhaps experts from California, where they have been casting early ballots since Feb. 3).

Early voting here in Massachusetts was Feb. 24 to 28. The obvious problem is that since the start of the early primary voting, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, and Amy Klobuchar have dropped out of the race, consequently nullifying the early votes of supporters of those candidates and precluding voters from choosing a candidate who is still running for office.

Galvin should reject election gimmicks and remember the old wisdom: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Joseph Coffey

Boston

Ranked-choice voting would be the tweak this system needs

With the arrival of early voting in Massachusetts, we must take the next step of moving to a ranked-choice voting system. Early voting expands the options for people to vote at more convenient times and will encourage more people to vote. Ranked-choice voting would ensure that their votes will still matter if their preferred candidate drops out.

On Thursday I voted for Pete Buttigieg, and he dropped out on Sunday. If Massachusetts had ranked-choice voting, my voice would still be heard. Without ranked-choice voting, I will be wary of using early voting in the future, and presumably many others will do the same.

John Murphy

West Roxbury

Tuesday’s ballot was riddled with obsolescence

I was shocked on Tuesday morning to find the name of every candidate who has ever run for this year’s Democratic primary for president on the ballot, regardless of how long ago they had dropped out of the race.

It is understandable that Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar remained on the ballot, but Cory Booker? Beto O’Rourke? These are people who ended their campaigns weeks or months ago.

At the polling site there was no information that most of the people on the ballot were no longer running.

At a time when the Democratic contest has narrowed the field, Massachusetts has allowed — and I would say, encouraged — voters to throw a vote away.

This bears some investigation, and I would suggest different guidelines. This was poor service to the people of this state.

Roxanne Kelber

West Roxbury

Looking to the battle ahead

Here’s the ticket: Joe Biden with Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. He holds office for one term, then she wins the presidency. Years of quality leadership. This team can beat Trump.

Marybeth Duffy

Boston