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Voting & Representation

Who voted, where, how the count worked, and what the people elected have done since.

40 of 48 measures connected

  • 9

    Seats on the City Council

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

  • 2

    Length of a Council term

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

  • 6

    Seats on the School Committee

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

  • 2,537

    The votes one Council seat cost

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • 3,303

    The votes one School Committee seat cost

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro School Committee Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • 14

    Counts the Council election ran to

    Fact— show source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 14 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 14; STATUS column, EXHAUSTED PILE and TOTALS rows · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

Why it matters

Cambridge elects at large by ranked choice, so a precinct's turnout and a councillor's mandate are not the simple relationship they are in a ward system. Reading the result correctly requires the transfers, not only the first choices.

Scope

At-large representation, precinct turnout, first choices and transfers, policy actions, participation reach and verified neighborhood evidence.

How it is measured

Certified results only. Turnout uses registered voters and the citizen voting-age estimate separately, and the uncertainty in the estimate is shown rather than hidden, because the two denominators give different answers.

Measures

Cambridge elects all nine city councillors at large by proportional representation, so a first-choice total does not decide a seat and there is no single correct answer to how many people voted. This tracker shows the counting rules first, then every official ballot total and every precinct's turnout against the denominator it was actually divided by. One turnout figure is publishable today, against registered voters. The versions measured against the citizen voting-age population and against total population are gaps, not estimates, because their denominators are Census figures that have to be read with their margins of error before any quotient built on them means anything. What the Council has officially done is kept in a lane that is never joined to what neighborhoods say about it.

Published · 40

These carry a figure from an official record, with the source and the arithmetic that produced it.

Rules of the count

  • Seats on the City Council

    No denominator — this is a count fixed by the charter, and dividing it by anything would turn a constant into a rate that nothing publishes

    How this is measured

    seats · None. A charter constant rather than an estimate. Two independent official pages state it identically, and the count report header states the same number as the number of candidates being elected.

    9

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

  • Length of a Council term

    No denominator — a term length is a duration, not a share of anything

    How this is measured

    years · None as published, but flagged for re-check. The same Commission page records that the City voted in 2025 to adopt a new charter, and does not state when that charter takes effect. The term length is published as current today; the effective-date question is carried as its own gap and is shared with the petitions module rather than restated here.

    2

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

    3 rows
    • As the Commission states itCambridge has a City Manager form of government with nine Councillors and six School Committee members elected at large by Proportional Representation (PR) for a two year term.Fact
    • What the Commission says about the charterIn 2025, the City of Cambridge voted to adopt a new charter that retained the proportional representation system of government.Fact
    • When the adopted charter takes effectMissing
  • Seats on the School Committee

    No denominator — a seat count fixed by the charter has no denominator

    How this is measured

    seats · None. Carried because the School Committee contest sits on the same ballot and has a materially different invalid-ballot rate, so omitting it would let a reader generalise the Council's rate to the whole ballot.

    6

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Cambridge Municipal Elections · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Cambridge City Charter; Tips and FAQs, How a PR Quota System Works · verified August 17, 2026

  • How the votes are counted

    No denominator — a rule is not a quantity

    How this is measured

    counting system · None. Transcribed from the header the Commission prints on the certified report itself, which is the same block that governs the count the report describes.

    Proportional Representation, with a Droop quota

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    3 rows · Fact
    • How a surplus above quota is transferredRandom, every nth ballot (Cambridge style); avoid exhausted ballots if possible; elected immediately (after the 1st count)
    • Whether that method is changingThe Cambridge Charter passed in 2025 allows the Board of Election Commissioners to change the method for selecting ballots to transfer from a candidate’s surplus to bring the candidate down to quota. Regulations will be voted on regarding any changes at least 6 months before the 2027 Municipal Election.
    • Which candidates are dropped togetherThose with less than 50 votes
  • The votes one Council seat cost

    No denominator — the quota is already the result of a division and is published as a whole number of votes, so dividing it again describes nothing

    How this is measured

    votes · None. Integer arithmetic on an integer ballot count. The reproduction is shown as a check on our reading of the source, not as the origin of the number.

    2537

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    2 rows
    • The rule, as the Commission states itThe quota is determined by dividing the total number of valid ballots cast by the number of positions to be elected plus one and then adding one to the resulting dividend.Fact
    • The same quota, reproduced from the rule2,537Calculated
  • The votes one School Committee seat cost

    No denominator — the quota is already a threshold expressed in whole votes

    How this is measured

    votes · None. Carried because the page publishes the Council quota and the rule that produces it, and a reader who applies that rule to the School Committee should be able to check the answer here rather than compute it themselves.

    3303

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro School Committee Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    1 rows · Calculated
    • The same quota, reproduced from the rule3,303
  • Counts the Council election ran to

    No denominator — a number of counts is a length of a process, not a share

    How this is measured

    counts · None. The report header names the count, the navigation strip on the summary report lists every count from the first to the final one, and no report exists beyond the final one.

    14

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 14 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 14; STATUS column, EXHAUSTED PILE and TOTALS rows · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

Ballot accounting

  • Registered voters

    No denominator — this figure is itself a denominator; expressing it as a share of something would hide the fact that it is what turnout is divided by

    How this is measured

    registered voters · No sampling error: this is an administrative count, not an estimate. It is point-in-time, reflects the list as it stood for this election, includes inactive voters, and is not a measure of population.

    67823

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    2025 Municipal Election Voter Turnout — Official Turnout by Ward and Precinct · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Wd/Pct, # Voters, # Turnout and % Turnout columns; Total row · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Voters recorded as turning out

    No denominator — this figure is a numerator; its denominators are the subject of the next section

    How this is measured

    voters · No sampling error. This counts voters recorded at check-in, which is not the same event as a ballot processed by the count, and the two are deliberately kept in different unit classes so they cannot be added or silently substituted.

    25606

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    2025 Municipal Election Voter Turnout — Official Turnout by Ward and Precinct · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Wd/Pct, # Voters, # Turnout and % Turnout columns; Total row · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Ballots processed — City Council

    No denominator — a processed-ballot count is a total, not a share

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. Specific to the City Council contest: the School Committee contest on the same ballot processed a different number, and the charter question recorded a third.

    25598

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Valid ballots — City Council

    No denominator — this is a count, and it is the count the quota is derived from

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. Named explicitly because a reader who divides turnout by this instead of by registered voters gets a different number that looks equally correct.

    25366

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Invalid ballots — City Council

    No denominator — the count and its share are kept as separate entries so each carries one state

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. The reason this contest records so few invalid ballots relative to the other contest on the same ballot is not stated by any source held here and is not inferred.

    232

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Ballots processed — School Committee

    No denominator — a processed-ballot count is a total, not a share

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. Carried as its own entry because three figures on this page are derived from it, and a number that other numbers depend on must be traceable to a printed line of its own.

    25328

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro School Committee Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Valid ballots — School Committee

    No denominator — this is a count, and it is the count the School Committee quota is derived from

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. Given its own entry so that the School Committee validity rate has a sourced numerator rather than a number quoted from another measure's prose.

    23115

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro School Committee Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Invalid ballots — School Committee

    No denominator — the count and its share are kept as separate entries so each carries one state

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. This is the clearest published evidence that processed and valid are different quantities, which is why it is carried rather than left to the reader to notice.

    2213

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro School Committee Round Detail Report — Final Election Results · City of Cambridge Election Commission · ELECTION RULES header block and ballot summary line · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • Share of processed ballots that were valid — City Council

    Valid ballots in the City Council contestBallots processed in the City Council contest
    How this is measured

    percent of ballots processed · Rounding only, because both inputs are exact administrative counts. Contest-specific: the same computation on the other contest gives a materially different answer.

    99.1

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Valid ballots divided by ballots processed, from the certified City Council count report, multiplied by one hundred and rounded to one decimal place.

  • Share of processed ballots that were valid — School Committee

    Valid ballots in the School Committee contestBallots processed in the School Committee contest
    How this is measured

    percent of ballots processed · Rounding only. Published beside the Council rate because the contrast between the two is the finding, and neither number means anything without the other in view.

    91.3

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Valid ballots divided by ballots processed, from the certified School Committee count report, multiplied by one hundred and rounded to one decimal place.

  • Share of processed ballots that were invalid — City Council

    Invalid ballots in the City Council contestBallots processed in the City Council contest
    How this is measured

    percent of ballots processed · Rounding only. The gap between this share and the equivalent share in the other contest is published without explanation, because no source held here offers one.

    0.9

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Invalid ballots divided by ballots processed, from the certified City Council count report, multiplied by one hundred and rounded to one decimal place.

  • Share of processed ballots that were invalid — School Committee

    Invalid ballots in the School Committee contestBallots processed in the School Committee contest
    How this is measured

    percent of ballots processed · Rounding only. The size of this share relative to the Council contest on the same ballot is the single most striking published contrast in this tracker, and it is left unexplained on purpose.

    8.7

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Invalid ballots divided by ballots processed, from the certified School Committee count report, multiplied by one hundred and rounded to one decimal place.

  • The charter question as it was put to voters

    No denominator — a question is text rather than a quantity, and the ballots that answered it are counted in their own measure below

    How this is measured

    ballot question · None. The wording is its own measure rather than a row of the tally measure, because those rows are checked by adding them to the published total, and a row that cannot be added would either break that check or have to be excused from it. Quoting the question separately keeps the check exact and the quotation intact.

    Shall an Act Establishing a new Charter for the City of Cambridge be accepted?

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    2025 Municipal Election Official Results — November 14th Update · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Ballot Question; Additional Background on the Municipal Election Process and Corrected Preliminary Unofficial Results · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    1 rows · Fact
    • The question as it appeared on the ballotShall an Act Establishing a new Charter for the City of Cambridge be accepted?
  • Ballots recording the charter ballot question

    No denominator — a ballot total for one question is a count, not a share

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. This is the fourth different total on one ballot and it is carried so the tracker can demonstrate its central claim rather than assert it.

    25352

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    2025 Municipal Election Official Results — November 14th Update · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Ballot Question; Additional Background on the Municipal Election Process and Corrected Preliminary Unofficial Results · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    3 rows · Fact
    • Yes18,414
    • No5,899
    • Blank1,039

Turnout, and the three things it can be measured against

  • Turnout against registered voters

    Voters recorded as turning outRegistered voters on the election-day list — point-in-time, and includes inactive voters, so it is a measure of reach among people already registered
    How this is measured

    percent of registered voters · Rounding only, because both inputs are administrative counts with no sampling error. The Commission prints the same quotient to the whole percent; both are shown, so the difference is visibly a rounding choice rather than a different measurement.

    37.8

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Voters recorded as turning out, divided by registered voters, from the citywide total row of the official turnout table, multiplied by one hundred and rounded to one decimal place.

    1 rows · Fact
    • The same quotient, as the Commission prints it38

First choices, and what the transfers decided

  • Seats decided on first choices alone

    Councillors whose published first-count status already records them electedSeats on the City Council
    How this is measured

    seats · None beyond the transcription itself, and the transcription is checked against the next-placed first-choice total, which falls below quota, so the boundary between elected and continuing is unambiguous.

    2

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Counted from the published Count 1 STATUS column: the number of candidates whose status already reads elected at the first count.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 1 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 1 — Tally of 1st place votes; TOTAL and STATUS columns · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    1 rows · Calculated
    • As a share of the seats22.2
  • Seats decided only after transfers

    Councillors whose published status records them elected at a later countSeats on the City Council
    How this is measured

    seats · None beyond transcription. Worth reading with the note that every councillor finishes on exactly the quota, because everything above quota is transferred away, so a final total is not a measure of support.

    7

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: The number of seats less the number already decided at the first count, both taken from published reports.

  • Seats not settled until the final count

    Councillors whose published status records them elected at the last countSeats on the City Council
    How this is measured

    seats · None beyond transcription. The per-count transfer amounts are shown as published, and no claim is made about which earlier preference produced them beyond what the report itself records.

    3

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Counted from the published final STATUS column: the number of councillors whose status records them elected at the last count.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 14 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 14; STATUS column, EXHAUSTED PILE and TOTALS rows · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • The count at which each councillor reached quota

    The count recorded in the STATUS column for each elected councillorEach figure describes one elected seat
    How this is measured

    count number · None beyond transcription. Every councillor finishes on exactly the quota, so this column records when a seat was settled and says nothing about the size of anyone's support.

    9 rows · Fact
    • Sumbul Siddiqui — Cambridge City Councillor1
    • Marc C. McGovern — Cambridge City Councillor1
    • Ayah A. Al-Zubi — Cambridge City Councillor3
    • Catherine Zusy — Cambridge City Councillor12
    • Burhan Azeem — Cambridge City Councillor13
    • Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler — Cambridge City Councillor13
    • Timothy R. Flaherty — Cambridge City Councillor14
    • E. Denise Simmons — Cambridge City Councillor14
    • Patricia M. Nolan — Cambridge City Councillor14
  • First-place votes at the first count

    First-place votes recorded for each elected councillor at the first countEach figure describes one candidate, at the first count only
    How this is measured

    first-place votes · None beyond transcription. Two of these figures sit above the quota and the rest below it, which is the whole of what the first count decided.

    9 rows · Fact
    • Sumbul Siddiqui — Cambridge City Councillor2,869
    • Marc C. McGovern — Cambridge City Councillor2,864
    • Ayah A. Al-Zubi — Cambridge City Councillor2,493
    • Catherine Zusy — Cambridge City Councillor2,025
    • Burhan Azeem — Cambridge City Councillor1,999
    • Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler — Cambridge City Councillor1,892
    • Timothy R. Flaherty — Cambridge City Councillor1,818
    • E. Denise Simmons — Cambridge City Councillor1,642
    • Patricia M. Nolan — Cambridge City Councillor1,506
  • Ballots in the exhausted pile at the final count

    No denominator — the exhausted pile is a count of ballots, and its share is not published

    How this is measured

    ballots · No sampling error. Carried because the nine councillors' final totals and this pile together account for every valid ballot, which is the check that the published count balances.

    2533

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 14 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 14; STATUS column, EXHAUSTED PILE and TOTALS rows · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

  • The count at which each School Committee member reached quota

    The count recorded in the STATUS column for each elected School Committee memberEach figure describes one elected School Committee seat
    How this is measured

    count number · None beyond transcription. All six members finish on exactly the quota, so this column records when a seat was settled and says nothing about the size of anyone's support.

    • Elizabeth Hudson — Cambridge School Committee1
    • Richard N. Harding, Jr. — Cambridge School Committee10
    • Luisa de Paula Santos — Cambridge School Committee13
    • Caitlin E. Dube — Cambridge School Committee14
    • Arjun Kent Jaikumar — Cambridge School Committee15
    • David J. Weinstein — Cambridge School Committee15

Turnout by ward and precinct

  • Wards and precincts

    No denominator — a count of precincts is a description of the geography, not a share

    How this is measured

    precincts · None. Worth stating because it is a cross-publisher agreement: the City's GIS layer defines the same number of precincts as the Election Commission's turnout table publishes rows for.

    33

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    Elections — Wards Precincts · City of Cambridge GIS · Dataset description; Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License · verified August 17, 2026

    2 rows · Fact
    • Wards11
    • How the boundaries were drawnThis polygon layer contains 11 wards and 33 precincts within the City of Cambridge. These were adjusted in 2011 from the 2010 U.S. Census.
  • Registered voters by precinct

    Registered voters in each precinctEach figure describes one precinct, as of the election-day registration list
    How this is measured

    registered voters · No sampling error. The published rows add exactly to the printed citywide registration total, which is the check that the transcription is complete and correct.

    33 rows · Fact
    • Ward 1, Precinct 11,573
    • Ward 1, Precinct 2789
    • Ward 1, Precinct 32,183
    • Ward 2, Precinct 12,319
    • Ward 2, Precinct 22,069
    • Ward 2, Precinct 32,142
    • Ward 3, Precinct 12,059
    • Ward 3, Precinct 22,220
    • Ward 3, Precinct 32,345
    • Ward 4, Precinct 12,561
    • Ward 4, Precinct 22,359
    • Ward 4, Precinct 32,281
    • Ward 5, Precinct 12,345
    • Ward 5, Precinct 2623
    • Ward 5, Precinct 32,161
    • Ward 6, Precinct 12,437
    • Ward 6, Precinct 21,464
    • Ward 6, Precinct 32,343
    • Ward 7, Precinct 12,135
    • Ward 7, Precinct 21,630
    • Ward 7, Precinct 3770
    • Ward 8, Precinct 11,836
    • Ward 8, Precinct 21,948
    • Ward 8, Precinct 3793
    • Ward 9, Precinct 12,837
    • Ward 9, Precinct 22,588
    • Ward 9, Precinct 32,424
    • Ward 10, Precinct 12,638
    • Ward 10, Precinct 22,634
    • Ward 10, Precinct 32,450
    • Ward 11, Precinct 12,390
    • Ward 11, Precinct 22,038
    • Ward 11, Precinct 32,439
  • Voters turned out by precinct

    Voters recorded as turning out in each precinctEach figure describes one precinct, for this one election
    How this is measured

    voters · No sampling error. The published rows add exactly to the printed citywide turnout total, which is the check that the transcription is complete and correct.

    33 rows · Fact
    • Ward 1, Precinct 1333
    • Ward 1, Precinct 2151
    • Ward 1, Precinct 3706
    • Ward 2, Precinct 1733
    • Ward 2, Precinct 2756
    • Ward 2, Precinct 3583
    • Ward 3, Precinct 1637
    • Ward 3, Precinct 2815
    • Ward 3, Precinct 3786
    • Ward 4, Precinct 11,084
    • Ward 4, Precinct 2853
    • Ward 4, Precinct 3896
    • Ward 5, Precinct 1834
    • Ward 5, Precinct 288
    • Ward 5, Precinct 3804
    • Ward 6, Precinct 11,024
    • Ward 6, Precinct 2448
    • Ward 6, Precinct 31,016
    • Ward 7, Precinct 1871
    • Ward 7, Precinct 2560
    • Ward 7, Precinct 3178
    • Ward 8, Precinct 1756
    • Ward 8, Precinct 2823
    • Ward 8, Precinct 3170
    • Ward 9, Precinct 11,407
    • Ward 9, Precinct 21,047
    • Ward 9, Precinct 31,078
    • Ward 10, Precinct 11,259
    • Ward 10, Precinct 21,330
    • Ward 10, Precinct 3988
    • Ward 11, Precinct 1618
    • Ward 11, Precinct 2824
    • Ward 11, Precinct 31,150
  • Turnout rate by precinct

    Voters recorded as turning out in the precinctRegistered voters in the same precinct — the same point-in-time list, precinct by precinct
    How this is measured

    percent of registered voters · Rounding only. A small denominator moves a percentage a long way, so the smallest precincts move furthest on the fewest ballots, and none of these rows is a ranking.

    33 rows · Calculated
    • Ward 1, Precinct 121.2
    • Ward 1, Precinct 219.1
    • Ward 1, Precinct 332.3
    • Ward 2, Precinct 131.6
    • Ward 2, Precinct 236.5
    • Ward 2, Precinct 327.2
    • Ward 3, Precinct 130.9
    • Ward 3, Precinct 236.7
    • Ward 3, Precinct 333.5
    • Ward 4, Precinct 142.3
    • Ward 4, Precinct 236.2
    • Ward 4, Precinct 339.3
    • Ward 5, Precinct 135.6
    • Ward 5, Precinct 214.1
    • Ward 5, Precinct 337.2
    • Ward 6, Precinct 142
    • Ward 6, Precinct 230.6
    • Ward 6, Precinct 343.4
    • Ward 7, Precinct 140.8
    • Ward 7, Precinct 234.4
    • Ward 7, Precinct 323.1
    • Ward 8, Precinct 141.2
    • Ward 8, Precinct 242.2
    • Ward 8, Precinct 321.4
    • Ward 9, Precinct 149.6
    • Ward 9, Precinct 240.5
    • Ward 9, Precinct 344.5
    • Ward 10, Precinct 147.7
    • Ward 10, Precinct 250.5
    • Ward 10, Precinct 340.3
    • Ward 11, Precinct 125.9
    • Ward 11, Precinct 240.4
    • Ward 11, Precinct 347.2
  • Spread of turnout between precincts

    The highest and the lowest precinct turnout rate, and the multiple between themRegistered voters in each of the two named precincts
    How this is measured

    percent of registered voters, and the multiple between the two rates · Rounding only, but the selection rule matters more than the rounding: choosing the endpoints from the City's whole-percent column picks the wrong precinct, because two rows print the same whole percent and the higher one is not the one that column suggests. This is explicitly a spread and not a ranking, and no precinct between the endpoints is ordered or characterised.

    • Lowest precinct rate — Ward 5, Precinct 214.1
    • Highest precinct rate — Ward 10, Precinct 250.5
    • Highest against lowest3.6

Certification, and the correction

  • Difference between voters recorded and Council ballots processed

    No denominator — a difference between two counts is not a share of either of them

    How this is measured

    ballots · The difference itself is exact. Its cause is not stated by any source held here and is not inferred, and no explanation appears anywhere on this page.

    8

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: The citywide turnout total from the official turnout table, less the processed-ballot total printed on the certified City Council count report.

  • Difference between the two contests on one ballot

    No denominator — a difference between two counts is not a share

    How this is measured

    ballots · The difference is exact and its cause is not stated by any source held here. Both totals are printed by the same office on the same day for the same election.

    270

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: The processed-ballot totals printed on the two certified count reports, subtracted one from the other.

  • Difference between the Council contest and the ballot question

    No denominator — a difference between two counts is not a share

    How this is measured

    ballots · The difference is exact and unexplained. Together with the other two residuals it is the evidence for this tracker's central claim, which is why all three are shown rather than summarised.

    246

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: The processed-ballot total from the certified City Council count report, less the ballot-question total from the certified results page.

  • Published result sets for this election

    No denominator — a count of published locations is not a share of anything

    How this is measured

    published result sets · This is our own observation of the published record on one date, not a figure the Commission states, and it is badged accordingly. A location that stops answering later would change it, which is why the method names the date rather than treating the result as permanent.

    3

    Calculated
    Source

    The formula uses identified inputs and the method is reproducible.

    Method: Counted by requesting each official count-report location named on the certified results page on the read date and counting those that answered. The Commission does not publish this number; it is our own observation of its record.

    2025 Municipal Election Official Results — November 14th Update · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Ballot Question; Additional Background on the Municipal Election Process and Corrected Preliminary Unofficial Results · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    3 rows · Fact
    • Preliminary unofficial resultsPreliminary unofficial results originally published on November 4 did not include all ballots.
    • Corrected preliminary unofficial resultsCorrected preliminary unofficial results (excludes test ballots that were erroneously included election night)
    • Official resultsOfficial results, which included provisional ballots and mailed overseas absentee ballots counted on November 14 as required by state law, were published on November 14.
  • The Commission's stated reason for the correction

    No denominator — a statement is not a quantity

    How this is measured

    published statement · None as to the wording, because it is transcribed rather than summarised. The Commission does not state which figures moved or by how much, and no such detail is inferred here from the difference between the published sets.

    During the Municipal Election, a technician error produced a discrepancy in the City’s preliminary unofficial results that were generated on Election Day. This discrepancy was subsequently identified by the Election Commission Staff and an Election Auditor hired by the Election Commission. The discrepancy was then verified, accounted for, and corrected in advance of the updated unofficial results that were shared November 7 and all results shared thereafter.

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    2025 Municipal Election Official Results — November 14th Update · City of Cambridge Election Commission · Ballot Question; Additional Background on the Municipal Election Process and Corrected Preliminary Unofficial Results · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

    1 rows · Fact
    • What the preliminary set left outWrite-in, auxiliary, provisional, and overseas absentee ballots were not included in the preliminary unofficial results as they were processed after Election Day.
  • When the certified report was generated

    No denominator — a timestamp is not a quantity

    How this is measured

    report timestamp · None. Carried because a result set is identified by when it was produced, and every figure on this page should be attributable to one identified run of the count rather than to a page that may change.

    Friday, November 14, 2025 5:28 PM

    Fact
    Source

    Direct from an identified authoritative or primary source.

    ChoicePlus Pro Council Round 14 Report · City of Cambridge Election Commission · COUNT 14; STATUS column, EXHAUSTED PILE and TOTALS rows · recorded November 14, 2025 · verified August 17, 2026

Not published · 8

These name the record that would answer them and, where we have looked, when we last checked. Several are not merely unconnected but impossible to compute from anything published today; the measure says which.

Turnout, and the three things it can be measured against

  • Turnout against the citizen voting-age proxyMissing
  • Turnout against total populationMissing

First choices, and what the transfers decided

  • Candidate first choices by ward and precinctMissing
  • The full transfer ledger, count by countMissing

Turnout by ward and precinct

  • A precinct map of these figuresMissing

Certification, and the correction

  • The Commission's reconciliation of the four ballot totalsMissing

What the Council has done, and what neighborhoods say

  • Official actions taken by the elected bodyMissing
  • Neighborhood evidence on the same subjectsMissing

How these are measured

Why four totals describe one election
Voters are recorded at check-in; ballots are processed contest by contest; the ballot question is recorded separately again. Those are four different events, so they produce four different numbers, and each is correct for the question it answers. The differences between them are published as arithmetic and left unexplained, because no source held here explains them.
Why turnout has three denominators and no single answer
Registered voters, the citizen voting-age population and total population answer three different questions about the same ballots: reach among people already registered, participation among people entitled to vote, and reach across everybody who lives here. Only the first is an administrative count, and only the first can be published today. They are shown side by side, never averaged, and no combined figure exists anywhere in this module.
Counts and estimates are different kinds of number
Every figure this tracker publishes today is an administrative count or a quotient of two administrative counts, so nothing here carries a sampling error and nothing here carries a published interval. The moment a survey estimate enters as a denominator, that stops being true, and the interval has to travel with the quotient. That is the whole reason two of the three turnout measures are gaps rather than numbers.
What was checked before anything was published
The published precinct rows add to the printed citywide totals for both registered voters and voters turned out. Valid and invalid ballots add to ballots processed in each contest. The three ballot-question rows add to the ballot-question total. The published quota reproduces from the published quota rule for both contests. The elected councillors' final totals and the exhausted pile account for every valid ballot. Where any of those had failed to reconcile, the figure would not be here.
How the highest and lowest precincts were chosen
By comparing the unrounded quotient for every published row, not by reading the City's rounded percent column. Selecting on the rounded column picks the wrong precinct here, because two rows print the same whole percent and the higher of the two is not the one that column suggests. The endpoints size a spread; they are not a ranking, and no precinct between them is ordered or characterised.
Why a final total is not a measure of support
Under proportional representation everything a candidate holds above the quota is transferred away, so every elected councillor finishes the count on exactly the quota. A final-count total therefore records that a seat was won and says nothing about how much support won it. What the counts do show is when each seat was settled, which is why the roster records a count number rather than a vote total.
How a corrected result is handled here
All three published result sets are named and linked so the change can be audited, and only the certified set supplies figures. The Commission's own account of the correction is quoted rather than summarised, because a paraphrase of why an election result changed is the one sentence on this page that has to be quoted or omitted. The superseded sets' values are never republished as figures.
Why the two lanes are never joined
There is no record anywhere in this module that links an official action to a neighborhood submission, and no field on either type that could hold one. They share a subject vocabulary and nothing else. The same subject is not the same claim, and two things appearing together is not evidence that one caused the other. Arguing that it did belongs in the Civic Forum, which is a different place with different rules.

What you can do about it

  • Read the certified results yourself

    The Election Commission publishes the certified result set, the ballot-question tallies and its own account of the correction on one page. Everything on this page is read from it and from the count reports it links.

    Received by: City of Cambridge Election Commission

    Certified 2025 municipal election results
  • Follow the count, count by count

    The count reports show every transfer that decided a seat, from the first count to the last. The election rules block at the top of the summary report states the counting system, the quota type and how a surplus is transferred.

    Received by: City of Cambridge Election Commission

    City Council count reports
  • Check your own precinct

    The official turnout table lists registered voters and voters turned out for every precinct. The rate shown here is those two numbers divided, and you can reproduce it from the same row.

    Received by: City of Cambridge Election Commission

    Official turnout by ward and precinct
  • Watch what the Council does next

    Agendas, minutes and roll-call records are published on the City's open meeting portal. No feed from it is connected here yet, so the official-actions lane on this page is empty and the portal is where that record currently lives.

    Received by: City of Cambridge

    Open meeting portal
  • Take a view somewhere else

    This page explains and cites. Arguing that an official action caused an outcome, organising around it or campaigning on it belongs in the Civic Forum, which is a different place with different rules.

    Open the Civic Forum

Sources

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