‘Unacceptable’: Mass. launches investigation into Boston Elections Dept. after ballot debacle

BOSTON — Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin announced on Wednesday that his office has launched an investigation into the Boston Elections Department following an Election Day debacle that forced police to rush extra ballots to several polling locations in the city.

“As you are aware, significant problems occurred with the administration of Tuesday’s State Election in the City of Boston. This Office has concluded, and Boston Election Officials have confirmed, that numerous polling locations throughout the City of Boston were not provided with a sufficient number of ballots for the election on Tuesday,” Galvin wrote in a letter addressed to Boston Election Commission Chair Eneida Tavares.

The letter, shared with Boston 25 News, added, “This is despite the fact that 766,200 ballots had been printed by this Office and delivered to the City of Boston. Further, this Office sent a reminder to all election officials on Monday, a copy of which is attached, regarding the delivery of sufficient ballot quantities to each polling place, as well as specific instructions for local election officials to maintain contact with poll workers to monitor ballot quantities.”

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, prompting complaints from voters, according to Galvin.

Galvin also noted that city election officials working in the precincts contacted his office to report the ballot shortages and indicated that they were unable to get in touch with the Boston Election Commission to report the issue.

“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, had no plan to deliver additional ballots as needed, and in a timely manner,” Galvin alleged in the letter. “Although it appears that these locations ultimately received ballots, voters were subjected to unreasonable and unnecessary delays in exercising their franchise. This is unacceptable and contravenes the most fundamental principles of our democratic process.”

Galvin instructed Boston to send police cars with ballots to those polling locations to replenish them. Representatives from Galvin’s office also responded to the affected locations to ensure they didn’t run out of ballots.

Eneida Tavares, Commissioner of the Boston Elections Department, told Boston 25 they will cooperate fully with the investigation.

“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,” said Tavares. “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.”

In a post on X, the city wrote, “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.”

Read Galvin’s full letter to Tavares below:

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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