Overview
- Mayor Michelle Wu announced Kerry Jordan as the new executive director of the Boston Election Department and said he will formally start on Sept. 8.
- The department remains under state receivership after Secretary of State William Galvin found serious 2024 failures and Galvin has assigned Michael J. Sullivan to oversee operations through the September primary.
- City officials say they have expanded staffing, hired more than 1,860 poll workers including 400 multilingual hires, scheduled over 100 training sessions, and boosted call-center capacity to improve on-site support.
- Officials point to technology changes Jordan helped lead, including citywide rollout of electronic poll pads that speed voter check-in and provide real-time turnout data to election managers.
- Galvin’s 2024 investigation found citywide ballot shortages, voting-machine failures, and more than 1,000 unanswered calls from poll workers and voters, a history that officials say the new leadership and external monitors must now address to restore public confidence.