Tuesday was the Election Department's last scheduled test under state oversight. What happens at year's end

Tuesday's state election was the last one scheduled while Boston's Election Department is under state oversight. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin placed the department under a state-appointed receiver in February 2025, after some polling places ran out of ballots in November 2024. That oversight is set to end with the year.

The department ran a three-card ballot with nine statewide questions this time. Its election-night count was complete for all 275 precincts by 3:46 a.m. Wednesday, according to the city's unofficial results page. We found no reports of ballot shortages Tuesday. Our results overview has the numbers.

Where the oversight stands

Galvin appointed Michael J. Sullivan, the longtime former director of the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, as his designee to oversee the department, the Boston Globe reported in April 2025. In August 2026, when Mayor Michelle Wu named a new executive director, a Galvin spokesperson told the Globe that the receivership was "set to continue through the end of the year." She said the office would then meet with city officials and reassess, looking in part at how the upcoming election was run.

What our records add

What the department told the council. At an Oct. 2 hearing of the Census, Redistricting, and Elections Committee, chaired by City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, the department's leaders described how they had prepared (meeting page):

• Commissioner of City Records Paul Chung, the department's former interim director, said 79,474 voters cast ballots in the September primary across 275 precincts. He said staff answered almost 800 phone calls with a wait of under 16 seconds (watch at 2:02:58).
• Executive Director Kerry Jordan said the department still keeps paper backups at polling places in case electronic devices or Wi-Fi fail, and has roving teams on Election Day (watch at 2:32:01).
• Asked whether this would be the last election under the designee arrangement, Jordan said the department had not yet discussed next steps with the Secretary's office "because we haven't hit that deadline just yet" (watch at 2:33:03).

Two council votes this year.

• Aug. 26: City Councilor Ed Flynn's resolution supporting a state investigation into incorrect ballots handed out during early voting, and keeping the department under state receivership through the 2028 election, failed 2-7. Flynn and City Councilor Erin Murphy voted yes; City Councilor Miniard Culpepper voted present (docket 1616).
• Sept. 16: Flynn's Section 17F order asking for information on voter registration and Election Day procedures failed 4-5. FitzGerald, Flynn, Murphy and Worrell voted yes; Breadon, Coletta Zapata, Louijeune, Pepén and Weber voted no; Culpepper, Durkan, Mejia and Santana voted present (docket 1719).

At the Oct. 2 hearing, Flynn said Boston was "still under the receivership basically of the secretary of state's office" after the 2024 ballot shortages (watch at 11:56).

The next job. Question 4 passed, so the department will need to be ready for Election Day voter registration starting Jan. 1, 2028 (our story). Boston's next city election, for mayor and council, is in November 2027.

What's next

• By Nov. 18: The city must certify official results, according to its results page.
• End of 2026: The receivership is set to expire, and Galvin's office has said it will reassess with the city.
• Louijeune's broader hearing order on voter access and election preparedness (docket 0183) remains in her committee.