The city has several places to return mail-in ballots, including three drop boxes in Dorchester, but none in Fields Corner. Officials have not set a date for installing a box there. Boston’s Elections Department is exploring the option, and the city says it hopes to make one available before Election Day.

Mail-in voting is underway in Massachusetts, and early voting is scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 17. City officials are urging residents to plan how they will cast their ballots, whether by mail or in person.

The proposed drop box comes as civil rights advocates watch for potential obstacles to voting. Brooke Simone, a staff attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights, said the closure of the post offices in Fields Corner and Allston should be taken seriously amid concerns about federal election interference. Her organization plans to monitor election activity, including in Dorchester.

Simone said voters have other options, including using a U.S. Postal Service collection box, returning ballots at an early voting site or voting in person. The Postal Service has also announced plans to permanently close its shuttered Allston post office, prompting opposition from residents of Allston and Brighton.

Separately, a federal judge’s order blocking the Trump administration from changing mail-in voting procedures remains in effect after the Supreme Court declined to intervene last month. Related lawsuits are ongoing.

Civil rights groups are also monitoring concerns that immigration agents or armed federal officers could appear at polling places, which Simone said could discourage participation in immigrant communities and communities of color. The administration has said it does not plan to send immigration officers to polling places. That concern is distinct from the Justice Department’s deployment of 12 election monitors to Boston, New Bedford and Lowell during the state primary.