BOSTON — State officials say police had to rush extra ballots to several Boston polling locations after ballots were not properly distributed.
Secretary William F. Galvin’s office told Boston 25 News that certain precincts in Hyde Park, Roslindale and West Roxbury were running low on ballots because the Boston Elections Department “chose not to send all ballots in their possession to polling places today.”
Galvin has instructed Boston to send police cars with ballots to those polling locations to replenish them, according to his office. Representatives from Galvin’s office are also responding to the affected locations to ensure they don’t run out of ballots.
“If you’re in one of the affected polling locations, stay in line, ballots are on the way,” Galvin’s office stressed.
Galvin’s office says the city was told to provide ballots to other locations and to instruct poll workers in the affected precincts to get the contact information for any voter who chose to not wait in late so they could be contacted once more ballots arrived.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu apologized to any affected voters and thanked poll and city workers for the extra effort.
“With strong turnout across Boston this Election Day, several polling locations across the city have experienced ballot shortages during the evening voting rush. The Elections Department has been working urgently to remedy this through coordinating delivery of additional ballots to precincts with the help of Boston Police and contacting all polling locations to anticipate and prevent further ballot shortages. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion, and are grateful for the diligent efforts of poll workers throughout the city to ensure that every voter can exercise their right to vote. Any voter in line by 8:00 p.m. at their polling location will be able to vote, and polling places will remain open to guarantee this access.”
The City of Boston posted on social media that “several” polling locations suffered ballot shortages and crews were “working urgently” to get the ballots.
“We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion, and are grateful for the diligent efforts of poll workers throughout the city to ensure that every voter can exercise their right to vote,” the City of Boston X account wrote.
Galvin said earlier in the day that the state saw remarkable turnout during the early voting period and he believes there will be a record turnout by the time polls close at 8 p.m.
City officials said 91,000 early votes were cast in Boston with 20.8 percent of registered voters taking part in early voting.
There are 275 precincts manned by 2,300 poll workers open across the city on Tuesday.
While everyone in line by 8:00 p.m. will be able to vote, Galvin’s office says they do not have the ability to extend polling hours, which are set by state law.
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