Boston City Council FY2027 Election Department Budget Hearing – May 14, 2026
Boston City Council Ways and Means Committee Hearing on FY2027 Election Department Budget – May 14, 2026
The Boston City Council’s Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Councillor Ben Weber, held a hearing on May 14, 2026, at 3:12 PM to review the Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget for the Election Department. The hearing was part of the council’s budget review process for the upcoming fiscal year. Acting department head Paul Chong and Head Assistant Register of Voters Sabino Piamonte presented an overview of the department’s operations, improvements since the 2024 elections, and plans for the 2026 midterm elections. No members of the public provided testimony.
Department Presentation
- Commissioner Paul Chong introduced the Election Department’s mission: delivering free and fair elections. He thanked the staff and highlighted ongoing efforts, including the annual census mailing, voter registration (over 50,000 registrations processed), and community outreach.
- Key improvements since the 2024 municipal elections: electronic poll books were deployed in all 274 precincts (except the Harbor Islands, which have no population) with zero connectivity issues. Mandatory in-person training was provided for poll workers. Call takers answered poll worker calls in an average of less than seven seconds during the November 2025 election. 92% of poll workers reported feeling their questions were answered.
- The department continues to operate under the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s orders, with a designee (Michael Sullivan) providing oversight. The Election Department is now housed under the People Operations Cabinet for operational support.
- Budget changes: The FY2027 budget shows a decrease of $544,000 compared to FY2026, largely because in state election years, the Secretary of State’s office pays for ballot printing and related costs, reducing the city’s contracted services line.
Discussion Items
- Polling Location for South Boston Waterfront / Fort Point: Councillor Flynn requested a permanent polling location in the neighborhood. Sabino Piamonte noted the department is waiting for District Hall to be ready; temporary locations are in use. Requirements include handicap accessibility and sufficient space for two precincts.
- State Receivership: Councillor Flynn expressed comfort with the continued state oversight under Secretary Galvin, stating it should remain in place through 2026. Commissioner Chong confirmed the Secretary may reevaluate the order after 2026.
- Vacancies in the Department: Councillor Braden noted three program manager positions are currently vacant. Chong said they are actively working to fill the positions ahead of the September primary and November midterm elections.
- Ranked-Choice Voting: Commissioner Chong stated the department is focused on the 2026 midterms but is capable of implementing ranked-choice voting if it advances in the state legislature. Councillor Weber asked about voting machine life expectancy; machines purchased in 2019 have a 10–12 year lifespan. New machines would need state certification regardless of voting method.
- Poll Worker Pay: Councillor Weber raised the topic of increasing poll worker stipends. Current pay ranges from $160 to $210 depending on position (inspectors vs. wardens). Commissioner Chong said the city would need to study the issue to ensure competitive rates.
- Language Access and Voter Outreach: Councillor Louie Jen emphasized outreach to non-English speaking communities. The department prints ballots in four languages and translates materials into 11 languages, but relies on interpreters. Sabino Piamonte noted the department conducts radio outreach on ethnic media when invited, but has no dedicated budget for ads. He also highlighted that the department sends nearly one million mailers for the September and November elections.
- Civics Education and Voter Turnout: Councillor Braden called for better civics education. Commissioner Chong said the focus is on nuts-and-bolts operations, but additional community outreach is planned.
- Election Administration Challenges: The department is preparing for a partisan primary and multi-page ballots in 2026. A roundtable with emergency management partners (FIRE, EMS, OEM) is planned to coordinate contingencies.
- Federal Court Case on Mail-In Ballots: Councillor Braden asked about the Supreme Court case Watson v. RNC. Commissioner Chong said the Secretary of State’s Office and the city’s Law Department are tracking it, and the department will follow required legal changes.
- Jackson Mann Community Center: Councillor Braden inquired about the future of this polling place serving five precincts. Sabino Piamonte said the department is studying the long-term solution with community engagement.
- 2030 Census Preparation: Councillor Braden noted undercount of ~20,000 in 2020. Commissioner Chong said preliminary administrative work has started, and the best preparation is encouraging residents to complete the annual city census.
- Electronic Poll Books Time Savings: Councillor Louie Jen asked how time savings were estimated. Commissioner Chong stated it was based on an in-office time study comparing paper look-ups to electronic look-ups.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken; the hearing was informational. The committee will hold a separate hearing on elections in summer 2026 to review preparedness.
- The department will provide materials to councilors to promote annual census completion.
- Councillor Flynn’s request for a permanent South Boston waterfront polling location will be pursued but not necessarily before the next election cycle.
- The state receivership will continue through 2026, with reevaluation after that.
- The FY2027 budget reflects a decrease due to state assumption of ballot printing costs; the department expressed confidence in having sufficient resources for the upcoming election cycle.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, good afternoon. My name's Ben Weber. I'm the district six city counselor and the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Today is May 14th, 2026, and it is now three twelve p.m. I have a few preliminaries here, so bear with me. This is a hearing this hearing is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at Boston.gov/slash city dash council-tv and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN channel eighty-two, and file channel nine sixty-four. The council's budget review process will encompass a series of public hearings beginning in April and running through June. You can do so in several ways. For a full hearing schedule, check out our website at Boston.gov slash council dash budget. To give testimony in person, please use the sign-in sheet at the entrance, and we'll call you in the order you've signed up.gov, or by emailing uh Karishma Chohan, that's K-A-R-I-S-H-M-A.CHOUHAN at Boston.gov. She may not know who Bob Dylan is, but she can send you a Zoom link for for you to testify. Our last listening session will be Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. Again, right here. And you can come and sign uh sign up and testify in person or uh you can email us and get a zoom link and testify virtually. Um let's see. So you can also submit written testimony to the committee. You send the uh send your written testimony by email to ccc.wm at Boston.gov. Lastly, you can submit a two-minute video of your testimony through the form on our website. For more information on the city council budget process and how to testify, please visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council-budget. Again, in-person public testimony uh will be taken after the first round of counselor questions. Um, and if you are looking to testify virtually and haven't done so already, email our director of legislative budget analysis, Chris Machon at K A R I S H M A.C. O U H A N at Boston.gov for the zoom link, and your name will be added to the list. This afternoon's hearing uh is on docket number zero seven three three to zero seven four zero and emergency, sorry, an emergency, an overview of the fiscal year 2027 operating budget for the election department. This is one of a series of hearings to review the fiscal year 2027 budget. These matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle. We will refer to the committee on April 8th, 2026. I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, Councillor Murphy, Councillor Flynn, Councillor Fitzgerald, Counselor Braden, and Councillor Louie Jen. We uh waive opening statements at these budget hearings. So we're gonna go directly to our panel. Let me introduce you and then go forward with our presentation. We're joined by Commissioner of City Records, Paul Chong, and Head Assistant Register of Voters, Sabino Piamonte. Um, so uh the floor is now yours. If you have a presentation or any other comments, go ahead. Oh, sorry, one last instruction for the panel. Do not touch the buttons. We will handle turning on and off the mics. Uh so Krishna's over here. No, this is just like a month of frustration on our part, just watching people pressing the buttons and us turning on the mics and they press the button, and so no need to press any buttons, just uh we'll take care of turning your mic on and off. Thank you for that process improvement. You're welcome. Um, thank you, counselors. We appreciate the opportunity to uh testify about the election department budget and look forward to answering your questions. Uh as counselor Weber said, my name is Paul Chong. I'm the commissioner of CD Records and currently acting as the department head for the elections department. You can see up on the slides our mission statement, and I think we all know that the election department cares deeply about delivering free and fair elections. If you will humor me, I'd like to take a minute to introduce our election commissioner, one of the members of our Boston Elections Commission, Janet Sloven, Commissioner Sloven, thank you for your support. We started something in Boston 250 years ago, and I wanted the council and the public, our voters and residents, to know what it takes to make our revolution an ongoing reality in the day-to-day. And that work is done by our election department staff. The staff, you'll see them in the second floor of City Hall in a windowless room.
openpublica.com