Council will close on Election Day and urges city and state to make it a holiday

The Boston City Council will hold no meetings or hearings on Election Day, Nov. 3. Council employees can take the day off. On Oct. 21 the council also adopted a resolution asking the City of Boston and the state to make Election Day an official holiday.

A resolution does not change city or state law. But it puts the council on record, and the closure applies to the council itself. Early voting for the Nov. 3 state election is already under way. The city's early voting page says in-person early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, with City Hall as the main site, and that registered voters can use any early voting location. The deadline to register is Saturday, Oct. 24.

How each councilor voted

The council's record for docket 1975 shows it was adopted 10-3:

• Yes (10): Liz Breadon, Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Miniard Culpepper, Sharon Durkan, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana, Benjamin Jacob Weber and Brian Worrell.
• No (3): John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy.

What was said

Council President Liz Breadon (District 9), the lead sponsor, cited U.S. Census Bureau figures showing that more than 26% of people who did not vote in the 2022 midterms said work or school schedules were the main reason (watch at 3:19:10). She said council staff who choose to work may do so, and that the closure would free colleagues to vote, work at the polls or volunteer:

So Election Day should be Democracy Day.

City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune (at-large) said the idea came up at a committee hearing two weeks earlier and would work alongside Question 4, the statewide ballot question on Election Day voter registration (3:20:43).

City Councilor Ed Flynn (District 2) said he respects Breadon but opposed the resolution (3:23:52). He said a day off for council staff would give incumbents an edge over challengers who cannot put paid staff on the street.

City Councilor Julia Mejia (at-large) disagreed, saying she first won her seat by one vote with little support from insiders and that more time off for working people would help grassroots candidates (3:25:52).

City Councilor Erin Murphy (at-large) said she could support a citywide or statewide holiday but not one for council staff alone (3:28:10). She said staff already have flexible schedules and that many city departments do not, and noted that anyone in City Hall can already vote early downstairs.

City Councilor Enrique Pepén (District 5) said he sees the resolution as setting a precedent for how the city treats elections, noting no councilor is on the ballot this year (3:30:46). City Councilor Sharon Durkan (District 8) voted yes but said she understood the concerns about how it looks for elected officials to give their staff the day off (3:32:18).

Earlier related votes

• Oct. 7: The council adopted a resolution backing Question 4, Election Day voter registration (docket 1805), 12-0 with Breadon absent.
• Oct. 2: The Census, Redistricting, and Elections Committee held a hearing on election readiness (meeting page), where Louijeune said Election Day should be a federal holiday (1:16:33).

For more on how the city is preparing for Nov. 3, see our earlier story, Boston election officials prepare for Nov. 3 as council weighs Question 4.

What's next

The resolution asks the mayor's administration and the state to act. Neither has announced a change. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, according to the city.