►
Description
City Services & Innovation Technology Hearing:
Docket #0407- Message and order for your approval an order at the recommendation of the Chair of the Board of Election Commissioners, I hereby transmit for the approval of your Honorable Body an Order Fixing the date of the Preliminary Election for this Municipal Year as September 12, 2023.
A
Calling
this
hearing
to
order
for
the
record,
my
name
is
Kenzie
Bach
I'm,
the
district
8
City
councilor
I'm.
Also
the
chair
of
the
council's
committee
on
city
services
and
innovation
technology
joined
here
today
by
my
colleague,
councilor
Aaron
Murphy
at
Large.
This
hearing
is
being
recorded.
It
is
being
live
streamed
at
boston.gov,
city-council,
TV
and
broadcast
on
Xfinity
channel
8,
RCN,
channel
82
and
FiOS
channel
964..
A
A
But
that's
kind
of
the
business
here
today
and
I
also
had
a
clarificatory
amendment
that
I'm
proposing
to
the
language
of
the
order.
But
it's
really
just
to
make
sure
that
it
needs
what
we
intend
it
to
mean.
So
it's
not
a
it's,
not
a
change
in
intention,
I
think,
but
before
before
I
go
to
commissioner.
Tomorrow's
I
just
want
to
give
my
colleague
counselor
Aaron
Murphy,
a
second
to
say
a
word.
If
you
want
to
say
anything,
I'll.
B
Just
be
brief,
thank
you,
chair
and
thank
you
for
being
here.
I
I
knew
how
much
behind
the
scenes
goes
on
during
election
season,
and
but
the
municipal
and
state
some
people
don't
realize,
but
you're
always
in
elections,
Cycles
downstairs
in
the
election
department.
So
just
thank
you
for
all.
You
do
and
hope
that
this
meeting
will
clear
up
the
date
that
we
definitely
want
to
move
it
forward.
B
So
there's
more
time
in
between
the
primary
and
the
final
election
and
all
of
the
changes,
we
know
that
mail-in,
ballots
and
other
ways
people
are
voting
is
changing
quickly,
but
we
want
to
be
on
top
of
that
and
make
sure
that
our
dates
match
up
to
make
sure
the
most
people
are
able
to
vote
with
the
you
know
the
most
ease.
So
thank
you
for
being
here
and
I.
Look
forward
to
the
healing
great.
C
As
you
are
aware,
according
to
the
city
Charter,
the
preliminary
municipal
election
would
fall
on
Tuesday,
September
26th
and
the
general
election
would
take
place.
Six
weeks
later,
on,
Tuesday
November
7th
in
2022
legislation
was
passed
to
make
vote
by
mail
a
permanent
measure
in
the
state,
and
also
to
provide
municipalities
with
the
option
to
provide
in-person
early
voting
in
Municipal
elections.
C
In
order
to
continue
to
build
upon
all
of
the
work
that
we
have
done
to
increase
voter
access,
we
would
like
to
keep
both
of
these
options
available
for
the
fall
elections.
However,
in
doing
so,
there
are
some
administrative
processes
that
we
need
to
take
into
account
when
preparing
for
the
upcoming
elections,
one
being
the
preparation
for
a
ballot.
Preparation
for
the
November
election
cannot
begin
until
after
the
certification
of
election
results,
which
would
take
place
on
October
3rd,
which
would
then
need
to
be
followed
by
a
ballot
position.
C
Drawing
before
we
can
even
submit
names
to
a
vendor
to
begin
printing
our
ballots
and
we
estimate,
even
with
a
rush
delivery
that
the
earliest
we
would
be
able
to
receive
ballots
would
be
during
the
week
of
October
16th,
and
that
is
leaves
us
with
only
three
weeks
before
the
November
election,
and
even
once
we
received
the
ballots.
We
still
need
to
review
those
ballots
and
we
need
to
prepare
the
ballot
meal
kits
for
any
vote,
who
has
requested
a
vote
by
mail
ballot.
C
A
A
I
think
that
well,
I'll
come
back
to
that
I
think
I
would
love
to
hear
a
little
bit
from
you
guys
just
confirming
that.
Well,
obviously,
there's
an
urgency
to
produce
a
calendar
for
the
upcoming
election
ASAP,
and
so
we're
seeking
this
order.
That's
just
about
this
year.
It
does
seem
like
the
challenges
that
you
described,
commissioner,
are
going
to
be
ongoing
challenges
because
we
don't
expect
ballots
to
start
getting
printed
more
speedily.
C
C
A
A
It
got
it
yes,
okay,
so
I
see
so
for
federal
ballots.
You've
got
to
because
you're
doing
that
as
a
45-day
thing
for
the
state,
the
I
mean
for
the
state
State
special
election.
Obviously
this
is
on
my
mind,
because
we've
all
seen
in
the
news
that
we
are
anticipating
having
well
I
mean
I
would
personally
hope
one
that
United
both
districts
but
on
the
same
date
from
a
ease
of
processing
perspective,
but
so
so
I
guess
part
of
what
I'm
curious
about
is.
C
Whatever
the
law
requires
us
to
do,
we
will
make
sure
that
we
meet
every
single
deadline
and
transmit
all
these
palettes
in
a
reasonable
time
frame.
According
to
the
work
that
we
have
to
do.
However,
we
want
to
make
sure
that
the
voters
get
the
amount
of
time
needed
to
transmit
these
ballots
as
well.
C
So
again,
we
will
make
it
work
when
it
comes
to
the
special
election
and
turning
those
ballots
around
again,
it's
a
smaller
volume
to
work
with
when
you're
working
on
just
certain
districts
as
opposed
to
managing
the
entire
city.
We
anticipate
that
we'll
get
a
much
larger
request,
which
is
going
to
be
a
much
larger
workload
and
longer
time
frame
for
turning
things
around.
A
Got
it
yeah
makes
sense,
and
then
just
for
my
colleague's
reference,
there's
a
some
amending
language
that
I
put
forward
that
that
you
should
have
a
copy
of,
or
hopefully,
counselor
Flynn.
President
at
Flynn
has
also
joined
us
from
District
Two,
which
is
just
that
in
the
current
order.
It
says
that
the
all
the
deadlines
will
remain
unchanged,
which
I
think
is
the
right
approach.
A
So
the
idea
here
is
that
we're
moving
the
prelim
up
two
weeks
because
of
your
ballot
printing
challenges,
but
it's
there's
no
reason
to
force
people
to
have
to
get
their
nomination
papers
in
two
weeks
earlier
to
force
them
to
decide
whether
they're
withdrawing
their
name
from
the
ballot.
Two
weeks
earlier,
like
those
things,
are
not
Linked
In
terms
of
the
the
time
like
the
time
that
you
guys
need
for
processing,
but
they
are
linked
in
the
statute,
because
the
statute
sets
every
date
for
those
deadlines
off
of
the
preliminary
election.
A
Yet
what
could
be
remaining
unchanged
is
that
description
of
the
relationship
which
would
then
move
them.
So
it's
sort
of
it's
a
very
technical
like
point,
but
I
think
we
just
want
to
so
I
added
a
little
bit
of
verbiage,
just
to
be
clear
that
we're
leaving
all
these
deadlines
as
though
the
prelim
were
on
September
26th,
even
though
we're
moving
the
prelim
up
to
September
12th.
A
B
Thank
you
and
thank
you
for
your
explanation.
I
have
a
question
actually
for
the
chair.
If
that's
okay,
knowing
that
we
are
waiting,
because
when
you
look
on
the
Boston
election
website,
it
still
shows
the
2021
dates
for
this
upcoming
municipal
election.
Knowing
that
we
need
to
set
this
hearing
is
going
to.
Let
us
set
those
dates
for
2023.
If
you
could
explain
to
me
why
you
wouldn't
want
it
to
continue
to
coincide
like
why
do
you
want
to
keep
those
dates
if
the
primary
is
two
weeks
sooner?
A
I
think
that
the
I
think
it's
just
a
question
of,
like
frankly,
the
I
think
there's
like
a
default
expectation
amongst
like
potential
candidates,
people
running
that
like,
oh,
you
know,
you
file
your
statements
of
candidacy
in
roughly
mid-april.
You
can
pull
your
pay
pull
papers
to
actually
do
in
early
may,
like
I,
think
people
have
a
kind
of
like
sense
of
what
the
Arc
of
this
is
that's
the
same
every
year
and
and
if
we
were
to
move
them
up,
then
it
would
be
like.
A
Oh,
you
need
to
file
your
statements
of
candidacy
in
early
April
like
it
just
it
just
shifts
the
whole
thing
and
I
think
that
if
the
two
things
were
yoked,
that
would
be
one
thing,
but
the
the
reason
that
all
those
like
all
those
deadlines
like
the
early
July
pull
your
name
off.
The
ballot
deadline
is
well
in
advance
of
when
they
need
to
print
the
ballot.
So
the
constraint
isn't
there.
So
to
me,
part
of
democratic
access
is
giving
people
the
maximum
time.
A
B
Me
no,
no
just
knowing
that
the
window
that
you
set
does
have
times
between
each
of
those
deadlines,
so
it
neither
stays
in
that
same
frame
and
moves
or
moves,
or
it
stays
I
mean
it's
somewhat.
You
know,
but,
but
if
you
had,
if
you
pulled
papers
sooner,
you
would
have
the
exact
same
amount
of
time
to
get
your
nomination
signatures
into
all
of
the
dates.
The
space
between
the
dates
would
stay
the
same.
B
They
would
just
start
two
weeks
earlier
also
if
we
were
to
keep
the
distance
between
the
primary
and
those
dates
if
it
was
going
to
shrink
it
by
like
two
weeks
saying
that
you
know
you
will
have
two
weeks
less
now
to
get
signatures
to
qualify
to
be
on
the
ballot.
I
absolutely
would
agree
that
we
should
not
let
that
happen,
but
if
the
time
to
pull
papers
and
get
nomination
signatures
and
then
certify
them
on
their
end
stays
the
same.
The
distance
between
them.
A
I
I
hear
your
point:
I
think
that
to
me,
I
think
that
when
we
talk,
as
we
alluded
to
a
minute
ago,
about
like
permanent
changes
to
the
schedule
to
to
allow
for
mail-in
voting,
it
might
be
reasonable
at
that
juncture,
to
have
a
conversation
about.
Do
we
want
to
like
permanently
shift
everything
up,
I
feel-
and
this
is
sort
of
just
like
small
D
Democrat
me
like
in
the
in
the
world
of
politics
of
the
city.
A
People
have
a
set
of
expectations
about
when
these
things
happen
and
I
don't
want
I
feel
like
we
have
a
good
reason
to
move
the
to
move
the
prelim
with
the
order.
I
don't
feel
like
we
have
a
good
reason
to
for
everybody.
Who's
kind
of
thinking
am
I
gonna,
you
know,
am
I
gonna
challenge
in
these
races,
like
any
of
that
kind
of
stuff,
that
we
sort
of
pull
that
deadline
up
on
them.
A
Two
weeks,
I,
just
don't
I
think
that
in
the
but
I,
but
I
hear
your
point
on
like
we
could
have
a
conversation
that
says
hey
if
it's
always
going
to
be
the
second
week
of
September.
Instead
of
the
fourth,
maybe
we
should
be
saying
people
you
know
can
start
pulling
papers
in
early
April,
but
I
would
be
hesitant
to
make
that
kind
of
shift
on
people
at
this
day.
For
this
year,
yeah
account
Council
counselor,
Flynn.
E
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
thank
you
to
the
panelists
for
the
important
work
they're
doing
at
the
election.
Department
I
apologize
for
for
being
late
to
this
important
meeting
and
I
apologize.
If
I
ask
a
question
or
a
comment
that
has
already
been
discussed,
so
a
couple
couple
issues
that
I
wanted
to
focus
on
would
include.
E
As
as
both
the
chair
mentioned
and
as
Council
Murphy
mentioned.
We
have
at
least
two
legislative
races
coming
up,
including
the
South
End
area
in
the
West
Roxbury
area,
in
the
interest
of
saving
money
and
supporting
the
election
department.
They
do
a
tremendous
job,
but
these
these
two,
these
two
elections
special
elections,
they'll,
be
on
the
same
date.
Obviously
right.
E
E
C
E
Could
I
ask
the
chair
a
question
or
a
comment
to
to
the
chair?
Are
we
recommending
that
these
elections
be
on
the
same
day
or
is
there
a
way
for
us
to
weigh
in
to
legislative
leaders
that
these
should
be
on
the
same
day?
Maybe
maybe
a
letter
from
from
the
chair
or
for
the
body?
I
I,
don't
know
I'm
just
kind
of
thinking
out
loud,
no.
A
I
think
that's
a
great
idea
and
I'd
be
happy
to
work
with
you,
president.
Flynn,
on
that
I
think
I'd
strongly
agree
that,
obviously
it's
in
the
city's
interest
to
have
these
fall
on
the
same
day.
There's
a
administrative
efficiency
for
the
elections
department,
but
also
it's
hard
enough
to
communicate
special
election
dates
to
the
pop
to
like
the
public
and
I
think
trying
to
communicate
to
different
special
election
dates
to
the
public
is
is
extremely
sub-optimal
if
we
can
possibly
avoid
it.
A
So
I'd
be
happy
to
work
with
you,
counselor
Flynn,
I.
Think
I.
Think
the
commissioner
is
right
that
this
is
really
entirely
in
the
hands
of
the
Speaker
of
the
House
of
Representatives
in
terms
of
setting
the
date
and
we
don't,
as
a
city,
have
any
administrative
control
over
that.
But
but
it
sounds
like
the
administration
is
already
advocating
for
it
to
be
a
single
date.
Is
that
accurate?
E
So
let
me
let
me
throw
a
monkey
wrench
into
the
this
discussion.
Madam
chair.
Why
wouldn't
we're
almost
in
in
the
first
of
March?
Why
wouldn't
we
have
no
special
election
and
just
have
the
have
those
two
elections
in
West
Rocks
we're
in
the
South
End
follow
the
city
council
elections?
Are
we
depro
I,
don't
know
if
we're
depriving
constituents
of
an
elected
official
by
having
the
election
in
September
in
November,
consistent
with
the
city
council?
E
They'll
go
to
the
the
voting
location
four
times
in
like
six
months,
because
they'll
vote
in
the
primary
for
for
State,
Rep
and
then
they'll
vote
in
the
general
election
for
State
Rep
and
then
then
further
down
the
road
they'll
go
to
the
preliminary
facility,
Council
in
September
and
then
and
then
the
general
election
in
November.
So
basically
four
times
from
May
to
May
to
November.
A
Yeah
I
mean
I
think
that
so
there's
two
questions.
There's
two
answers
to
that
question.
One
of
them
is
simply
that
the
city
and
state
the
the
actual
statutes
just
kind
of
we
don't
like
acknowledge
each
other's
elections
in
the
sense
that
in
each
case,
like
the
state
statute
says.
Oh,
if
a
state
election
is
close,
then
don't
have
the
special
and
wait
till
the
state
election,
but
they
don't
treat
Municipal
elections
that
way
and
I'm
sure.
A
As
you
remember,
you
know,
when
Senator
bankore
left,
we
had
that
election
that
we
ended
up
having
the
state
election
kind
of
like
a
month
after
the
City
mayoral
elections
and
I.
Think
a
number
of
us
had
felt
like
the
timing
could
have
been
coordinated,
such
that
people
were
voting
on
the
same
day,
but
the
State
House
hasn't
made
any
practice
of
kind
of
considering
the
Municipal
elections
as
a
as
a
context
for
their
specials,
which
I
think
you
could
argue
at
that
point
for
sure.
A
A
So
it's
not
crazy
to
want
somebody
to
get
in,
like
I.
Think
that
my
I
don't
know
what
schedule
the
Speaker
of
the
House
might
set,
but
it
seems
as
though
it
it
seems
as
though
there's
a
good
prospect
that
they
could
get
somebody
in
before
the
latter
half
of
July.
When
there's
quite
a
lot
of
legislating,
usually.
E
C
Correct
so
I
will
add
that
part
of
the
recent
votes
act
now
allows
us
to
transmit
ballots
electronically
for
absentee
voters,
which
means
that
now
any
military
in
overseas
voters
who
request
the
ballot
we
can
submit
it
electronically.
They
can
return
electronically,
minimizing
the
the
time
that
it
takes
to
mail
them
about
wherever
they
are,
if
they're
in
another
country.
Sometimes
we
only,
we
were
limited
to
the
option
of
just
mailing
it.
That
is
no
longer
the
case.
E
C
E
C
We,
yes,
we
will.
We
will
gather
all
the
required
information.
Sometimes
it
requires
a
bit
of
communication
back
and
forth,
but
as
long
as
we
have
a
signature
from
that
voter,
if
it's
a
typewritten
signature
white
signature
from
that
voter
requesting
one,
we
would
find
out
whether
they
want
to
receive
it
electronically,
their
preferred
method
and
that's
what
we
would
use
to
send.
Okay.
E
C
So
we
do
plan
on
sending
out
a
vote
by
mail
application
to
every
single
registered
voter
in
the
city.
However,
it
is
challenging
when
it
comes
to
Military
and
overseas
voters,
because
we
don't
have
information
in
terms
of
where
folks
are
stationed,
so
that
meal
I
would
simply
go
to
their
registered
address
at
home.
C
E
C
Want
to
well
I
I
was
just
gonna
touch
on
the.
There
are
some
challenges
with
running
State
elections
and
Municipal
elections
simultaneously,
because
then
we'll
be
running
a
dual
election
and
there
are
challenges
there,
because
now
we're
required
to
have
two
sets
of
everything.
That
means
we're
running
two
different
voting
lists
at
the
precinct,
so
we
are
mailing
out
two
sets
of
ballots
for
anyone
who
requests
the
balance.
They
have
to
be
clearly
labeled
that
they
have
they.
A
So
you're
saying
that
you
actually
can't
put
State
officials
on
the
same
ballot
as
us.
No,
it
would
be
too
separate.
I
never
knew
that.
Oh
that's
yeah,
because
well,
I
knew
the
primary
versus
preliminary
distinction,
but
I
didn't
realize
that
you
couldn't
just
have
non-partisan
and
partisan
races
on
the
same
final.
That's!
Okay!
Well,
that's
good
to
know
it
seems
slightly
insane,
but
but
it's
gonna
change,
but.
A
Okay
and
and
just
one
one
just
thing,
I
wanted
to
say
for
the
record:
I
sort
of
set
it
at
the
front,
but
I
do
think
it
would
make
sense
for
the
council
to
entertain
and
I
would
certainly
be
supportive
of
a
home
repetition
to
kind
of
more
permanently
adjust
the
election
calendar
to
sort
of
work
with
mail-in
balloting.
I
think
you
know
it
was
awkward
when
the
state
hadn't
made
it
permanent,
yet
to
kind
of
contemplate
doing
that.
A
A
It
seems
to
me
like,
using
that
home
repetition,
to
also
streamline
a
few
of
the
weird
things
in
our
Charter,
about,
like
the
nomination
paper
layout
and
various
things
that
I
think
we've
all
like
lived
with
for
a
long
time
it
just
it
feels
like
it
would
make
sense
to
send
up
one
kind
of
like
we
all
agree.
We're
just
fixing
these
things
kind
of
home
remedition,
so
I
just
wanted
to
flag
that
I,
don't
know
if
you
guys
have
any.
A
I
just
think
that
would
be
because
I
think
it's
like
it's
just
an
easy
I
think
if
we
send
it
up
as
a
bunch
of
different
home
rules
like
it
could
just
sort
of
language
but
I
think
if
it's
like
here's,
our
election
rationalization
act
right
and
just
ask
the
state
house
to
stand
with
us
on
it.
I
think
we
could.
You
know
most
effectively
move
that
forward.
A
E
A
A
We,
if
we
don't
make
a
permanent
fix
elections,
is
going
to
have
to
come
to
us
every
year
and
ask
for
this
change,
and
so
there.
The
suggestion
is
that
at
some
point
we
need
to
actually
ask
the
state
to
just
let
us
permanently
adjust
this
schedule
so
that
it
makes
sense
with
the
new,
with
early
voting
and
mail-in
which
are
here
to
stay
and
then,
while
we're
doing
that,
some
of
the
ancient
things
on
the
nomination
Forum
that
they
can't
change
because
they're
written
into
the
charter
might
be
like.
E
A
A
C
A
A
All
right,
so
there's
no
public
testimony
signed
up
if
you're
trying
to
get
in
make
sure
to
sign
the
sheet
all
right.
So
this
is
do
a
letter
to
me
from
counselor
Louie
genre
absence
for
hearing
on
docket0407,
dear
committee
on
city
services
and
innovation
technology
I
regret
to
inform
you
that
I
will
be
unable
to
attend
the
committee
on
city
services
and
Innovation
hearing
on
docket
um0407
hearing
regarding
an
order
from
her
honor.
The
mayor
fixing
the
date
of
the
preliminary
election
for
this
Municipal
year
as
September
12
2023.
A
I
respect
the
request
for
the
elections
office
for
adequate
time
to
thoroughly
process
all
early
vote.
Ballots
casts.
Their
work
is
important
to
accessible
vote
participation,
whether
that
be
early,
in-person
voting
or
vote
by
mail.
At
the
same
time,
communicating
to
both
voters
and
candidates,
the
date
of
the
preliminary
election
and
any
other
important
dates
that
change
or
do
not
change
in
a
timely
manner
is
incredibly
important.
I
hope
that,
upon
passages
order,
the
elections,
department
and
respective
municipal
offices
will
publicize
this
change
widely.
A
To
ensure
voters
across
the
city
are
made
aware,
my
staff
will
be
attending
and
I
will
thoroughly
review
the
video
hearing,
minutes
and
public
testimony.
Should
you
or
any
member
of
the
public
have
any
questions
or
concerns?
Please
do
not
hesitate
to
reach
out
to
my
office
directly
at
617-635-4376
or
at
rootsy.lugen
at
boston.gov,
sincerely
Racine
Boston,
City
councilor
at
large.
A
Thank
you
to
councilor
lujin
for
that,
and
that
actually
reminds
me
of
a
question
which
is
so
presuming
that
I
make
this
recommendation,
that
the
order
pass
for
Wednesday's
meeting
and
presuming
that
my
colleagues
support
it,
and
so
you
guys
have
a
past
order.
What
what's
your
expectation
for
the
timeline
on
which
you
could
provide
people
with
a
full
calendar
for
the
upcoming
municipal
election.
A
A
You
know
out
for
people,
it's
just
the
the
it's
important
with
these
things
for
there
to
be
like
as
much
widely
accessible
information
I
think
we
never
want
to
feel,
especially
those
of
us
who
are
incumbent,
elected
officials
like
we
kind
of
have
the
inside
track
on
what,
when
deadlines
are
going
to
be
so
I
think
it's
it's
very
important
to,
even
though
they're
all
technically
in
the
charter.
If
you
count
the
Tuesdays
but
I
think
it
would
be
great
for
the
public
to
to
really
get
those
out
there.
C
A
Great
awesome,
yes
and
then
councilor,
Flynn
and
I
will
follow
up
about
our
support
for
a
unified
special
election.
All
right,
thank
you
with
that
I
think
seeing
no
public
testimony.
Thank
you
to
the
commissioner
and
Sabino
and
my
colleagues
this
hearing
of
the
Boston
City
councils
committee
on
city
services
and
innovation
technology
adjourned.
Thank.