Early voting's last week has no sites in Dorchester or Mattapan

The final week of early voting for the Nov. 3 state election started Monday, and voters in Dorchester and Mattapan will have to leave their neighborhoods to use it.

The city's schedule shows no early voting locations in either neighborhood for Oct. 26 to 30, the Dorchester Reporter reported. The last neighborhood sessions there were over the weekend, at the BCYF Perkins Community Center on Talbot Avenue, the BCYF Mildred Avenue Community Center in Mattapan and the Salvation Army Kroc Center on Dudley Street, according to the Reporter. The article did not give a reason for the schedule.

Where you can vote this week

According to the Reporter's listing of the city schedule:

• City Hall (Haymarket Room): Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 27, noon to 8 p.m.: Saint Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church, 39 Belgrade Ave., Roslindale; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Dr., Seaport.
• Thursday, Oct. 29, noon to 8 p.m.: Saint George Orthodox Church, 55 Emmonsdale Rd., West Roxbury; and BCYF Hyde Park Community Center, 1179 River St.

Any registered Boston voter can vote at any early voting site, with no appointment needed. Friday, Oct. 30 is the last day. Mail ballot applications are due Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5 p.m., and mail ballots can be returned to a city drop box or an early voting site. On Election Day, polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and voters must go to their assigned precinct, the Reporter said. The city's early voting page has the official schedule.

What our records show

How early voting works in Boston was argued out on the council floor this summer.

On Aug. 26, City Councilor Ed Flynn brought a resolution supporting a state investigation into incorrect ballots handed out during early voting and keeping the city's Election Department under state receivership through the 2028 election (docket 1616). Flynn said incorrect ballots had been given out at the Condon Community Center in South Boston on the first day of early voting, and argued that in-person early voting should be offered only in a voter's own neighborhood or district, or at City Hall, because letting anyone vote anywhere means poll workers must have 34 ballot types ready (watch at 2:31:27).

Council President Liz Breadon said three early voters got the wrong ballot, the error was corrected immediately and all three cast the proper ballot, and that there was no evidence of a systemic problem (2:34:47). City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said the city should be expanding early voting, and that someone running an errand should be able to vote at City Hall even if they live in Hyde Park or Mattapan (2:36:19).

The resolution failed:

• Yes (2): Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy.
• No (7): Liz Breadon, Gabriela Coletta Zapata, John FitzGerald, Ruthzee Louijeune, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana and Brian Worrell.
• Present (1): Miniard Culpepper.
• Absent (3): Sharon Durkan, Julia Mejia and Benjamin Jacob Weber.

At an Oct. 2 Census, Redistricting, and Elections Committee hearing, the city's former interim election director urged residents to vote and pointed to the two weeks of early voting starting Oct. 17 (watch at 2:04:35). On Oct. 21, the council voted to close its own offices on Election Day and urged the city and state to make it a holiday (our story).

What's next

Early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. The council holds no meetings or hearings that day.