Kirk Israel plays the sousaphone outside a polling station. “I’m just trying to give them some musical energy,” Israel said. Photo by Colbi Edmonds/BU News Service 
Margie Mendez, a Brookline resident who came to vote at 6 a.m., is the first to vote at Brookline Town Hall on Tuesday. She said it’s our right to vote, and felt honored to be first in line. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
Margie Mendez walks into the polling station. She was the first one to vote in Brookline Town Hall on election day. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
Margie Mendez walks to the polling room. She was the first one to vote in Brookline Town Hall on election day. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
People check in with poll workers before voting in Brookline Town Hall. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
Leslie Ann Lopez (left) and Isabelle Zeledon (right) putting ballots in the mail-in box. They felt stressed, but relieved on Tuesday morning. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
People holding signs supporting Patrick McDermott outside the Cypress Street Playground in Brookline on Tuesday morning. Photo by Anran Xie/BU News Service 
Bethany Bell, a volunteer at the Brookline High School precincts, says there was a rush of voters for about 50 minutes before the line cooled down. “Every election is important,” Bell said, “I feel this one is especially important.” Photo by Nathan Lederman/BU News Service 
“Vote Here” signs mark Matthews Arena on Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service 
Voters line up outside McKinley Elementary School in Boston on Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service 
Voters line up outside McKinley Elementary School in Boston on Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service 
Voters line up at Matthews Arena at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service 
Advocates for rank-choice voting stand near voting lines at Boston Public Library in Copley Square on Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service 
Voters line up outside McKinley Elementary School in Boston on Tuesday morning. Photo by Caitlin Faulds/BU News Service
By Anran Xie, Colbi Edmonds, Nathan Lederman and Caitlin Faulds
BU News Service
Voters were up and out early on a cold Boston Tuesday morning to hit the polls when they opened at 7 a.m. Modest lines formed in front of most polling stations across the city, moving quickly once doors opened. BU News Service reporters fanned out across the city to capture scenes from the polls.
At the Brookline Town Hall, Margie Mendez came an hour early decked in red, white and blue to make sure she was the first to vote. A sousaphone serenaded lines in East Boston. Voters across Back Bay and the South End held coffee in hand and chatted with others waiting their turn at voting stations across from sign-laden brownstones.
