Local News
“Initially, the city did not deliver an appropriate quantity of ballots to Boston precincts, did not have adequate communication channels with polling places, and did not intend to deliver ballots additional if necessary.”
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin on Wednesday opened an investigation into the city of Boston’s handling of the Nov. 5 election.
In a letter to Boston Elections Commissioner Eneida Tavares, Galvin said the investigation would focus on “the practices and procedures of the Boston Department of Elections leading up to and including the state elections held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as well as any other question relating thereto. .”
In the letter, Galvin highlighted “significant issues” with the city’s administration of Tuesday’s election.
“This office has concluded, and Boston election officials have confirmed, that many polling places in the City of Boston did not receive a sufficient number of ballots for Tuesday’s election,” the letter states. “This is despite the fact that 766,200 ballots were printed by this office and delivered to the city of Boston. »
Police vehicles rushed to deliver more ballots to precincts in Hyde Park, Roslindale and West Roxbury that were low on or running out of ballots, Boston.com reported Tuesday. Despite long queues, partly due to delayed polls, polling stations still closed at 8 p.m.
Galvin said he sent a reminder to all election officials Monday about “delivering sufficient quantities of ballots to each polling location, as well as specific instructions for local election officials to maintain contact with officials to monitor the quantities of ballots”.
“You should send as many official ballots as necessary to each polling place,” read Galvin’s memo regarding the ballots sent Monday. “When mailing official ballots to the polling location, be sure to include a sheet indicating the number of ballots sent so poll workers can acknowledge receipt on Election Day.”
However, voters and election officials reported that polling places did not have ballots, according to Galvin’s letter, and they indicated that they were unable to contact the Boston Election Commission .
“This indicates that the city originally did not deliver an appropriate quantity of ballots to Boston precincts, did not have adequate communication channels with polling locations, and did not “did not intend to deliver additional ballots as necessary and in a timely manner,” the report said. the letter said.
Galvin called the delay in voting “unacceptable” and “contrary to the most fundamental principles of our democratic process.”
“Although it appears that these localities finally received ballots, voters were subjected to unreasonable and unnecessary delays in exercising their right to vote,” he said.
Boston.com today
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