Councilor Ed Flynn to Hold Hearing to Discuss Electoral Recount Process in the City of Boston

BOSTON – Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn will be having a hearing on the city’s electoral recount process this Thursday, September 10th, at 10am. The hearing will be chaired by Councilor Julia Mejia, Chair of the Committee on Civil Rights, and aims to start a discussion on how to improve the current recount process, and whether there should be an automatic recount if the margin of votes is under a certain threshold.

Currently, the recount process in Boston requires that candidates requesting a recount collect 50 signatures in each ward that they would like a recount on, and have the signatures certified and filed within 10 days of the petition. This process does not align with state and district-wide recount practices, and most cities and towns in Massachusetts only require 10 signatures in each ward for a recount. The city has the responsibility to provide an accurate count of the votes, especially when the margin of victory is narrow. Having a difficult recount process can pose difficulties for candidates requesting a recount, especially after a competitive and stressful race, and create barriers for the municipalities to provide an accurate count of the votes.

“I believe that having a recount process that is fair to the municipality, residents, candidates, and their supporters is important to our election process,” said Councilor Flynn. “When the margin of victory is narrow, we should be planning an automatic recount, so that we can get an accurate vote count without imposing any additional barriers. I want to thank Councilor Mejia for chairing this hearing, and I look forward to this discussion.”

The hearing will be held virtually via Zoom, and you can watch using this link.  For more information, please contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617-635-3203 and [email protected].