BOSTON – Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin has opened an investigation into the Boston Election Commission after some polling places ran out of ballots on Election Day.
Boston ballot shortages
The ballot shortages were reported at several locations in Ward 18, which includes parts of Hyde Park and West Roxbury.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn also posted on social media that the poll at Cathedral High School in the South End ran out of English-only ballots. Galvin’s office said the locations ran out of ballots due to high voter turnout.
Jessica Burko
The ballots were replenished thanks to a police escort with lights and sirens. The Secretary of State’s office also instructed the city to provide ballots to other locations to make sure they would not run out. Galvin said many voters were left waiting to cast their ballot.
“It’s unacceptable that voters would have to stand in long lines,” said Galvin. At a news conference on Wednesday, he said he doesn’t believe anyone wasn’t unable to vote at all.
According to Galvin, election officials in the precincts were unable to get in contact with the Boston Election Commission when they noticed they were running low.
“This indicates that the City did not originally deliver an appropriate supply of ballots to precincts in Boston, did not have adequate communication channels with the polling places, and had no plan to deliver additional ballots as needed and in a timely manner,” Galvin said in a letter to Eneida Tavares, the chair of the Boston Election Commission, on Wednesday.
“Unreasonable unnecessary delays”
“Although it appears that these locations ultimately received ballots, voters were subjected to unreasonable unnecessary delays in exercising their franchise,” Galvin wrote. “This is unacceptable and contravenes the most fundamental principles of our democratic process.”
Galvin said 766,200 ballots were printed by his office and delivered to polling places in Boston. A city spokesperson apologized for “any inconvenience or confusion” due to the shortages.
Galvin also said election officials were reminded on Monday about keeping in contact with poll workers to monitor the ballot quantities at polling locations.
“You cannot operate an election without answering the phone in the election department, yet that’s what they tried to do yesterday,” said Galvin.
Galvin said similar situations happened in Boston in 2006 and 2021. In 2006, Galvin said he had to take over the election department and place it in receivership, which meant someone from the secretary of state’s office took control of the election department. Galvin said he anticipates having to appoint a receiver again.
In 2021, the secretary of state’s office had to make sure ballot counting was reconciled with those that voted by mail during the preliminary vote for mayor.
“There is a long history here that should have resulted in better conduct,” said Galvin.
City responds
“The City takes our responsibility to effectively administer free and fair elections extremely seriously as the cornerstone for democratic participation. It is completely unacceptable for voters to experience undue delay at the polls, as any barriers in the voting process can lead to disenfranchisement. The City has begun a full audit into the delays from ballot shortages at polling locations during yesterday’s election, and will work closely with the Secretary of State’s office to support the state’s investigation so that the findings can deliver needed improvements to our voting system,” said Tavares in a statement.
“Being able to ensure that everyone has quick, easy, convenient access to vote is the foundation of our democracy so it is absolutely unacceptable,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. When asked who’s to blame for the ballot shortage, she said, “We’re just in the early stages of our review but there sounds like there was an issue both with central tabulation in city hall and at the polling places how the supply was calculated.”
