One seat on the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners is on the ballot this year. Every registered voter in all fifteen Cape Cod towns votes in this race — Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet, and Yarmouth.
The primary is Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Here is everything you need to take part.
Key dates
| Saturday, August 22 | Voter registration deadline — and early voting begins |
| Tuesday, August 25, 5:00 p.m. | Deadline for your town clerk to receive a vote-by-mail application |
| Friday, August 28 | Last day of early voting |
| Tuesday, September 1 | Primary election day — polls open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. |
If you are unenrolled, you can still vote in this race
This is the single most important thing on this page, and most Cape voters do not know it.
Most Massachusetts voters are registered as unenrolled — what people usually call independent. If that is you, you can vote in this primary. Just ask for a Democratic ballot when you check in at the polls.
It does not change your registration. You stay unenrolled, and you can ask for a different party’s ballot in any future primary. If you are voting by mail, you must choose a party on your application form — the same rule, just in writing.
If you are already registered with a party, you will receive that party’s ballot.
Three ways to vote
Vote early, in person
Early voting runs Saturday, August 22 through Friday, August 28. Locations and hours are set by each town individually, so check with your town clerk for where and when your town is open.
Vote by mail
Any registered voter in Massachusetts can vote by mail, with no excuse required. Your application has to reach your town clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25. Apply as early as you can — the ballot still has to travel back to you and then to the clerk.
Apply here: Massachusetts vote-by-mail application
Vote on election day
Polls are open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 1. If you are in line at 8:00 p.m., you are entitled to vote — stay in line.
Check your registration and find your polling place
- Check whether you are registered, and see your party status
- Register to vote, or update your registration — deadline August 22
- Find your polling place
What does a County Commissioner actually do?
It is the least-explained office on the ballot, and it controls more than most people realize — wastewater and septic funding, county public health, the dredge that keeps our harbors open, regional land use through the Cape Cod Commission, and human services no single town could staff alone.
Read the plain-English guide to the office
Why I am running
I am Dan Gessen. I grew up in Falmouth, I represent Falmouth on the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates where my colleagues elected me Deputy Speaker, and I am an infantry officer in the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
I am running because nearly everyone I graduated high school with has left the Cape. Not because they wanted to — because they could not afford to stay. The county has real tools to change that, and I do not think we have used them hard enough.
On the Assembly I secured $1.3 million in federal funding for wastewater projects and pushed for relief for homeowners facing Title 5 septic replacement costs.
Where I stand:
- A regional solution to Cape Cod’s housing crisis
- Wastewater funding and Title 5 costs
- Restoring the balance of power in county government
- The youth exodus
- All issues
Questions
I answer my own email: dan@dangessen.com · (508) 687-2708
If you would like to help: join the campaign or find an upcoming event.