City Councilor Ed Flynn filed a resolution Wednesday recommending that Boston’s Election Department be placed under state receivership following its Election Day ballot shortage.
Voters in Hyde Park, Roslindale, West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain were delayed in casting their ballots after precincts ran out due to a strong turnout.
Boston police officers had to rush the extra ballots to the polling places.
Secretary of State William Galvin’s office said that “numerous polling locations throughout the City of Boston were not provided with a sufficient number of ballots for the election on Tuesday.”
Galvin called the debacle “unacceptable ” and announced on November 6 his office will investigate the city department.
“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 a letter addressed to Boston Election Commission Chair Eneida Tavares. “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.”