Boston city councilor claims mail carrier threw ballots in trash

A Boston City Councilor, who is a candidate for reelection, alleges that hundreds of mail-in ballots were thrown away by a USPS employee before they could be delivered to voters. Councilors Michael Flaherty said he learned from residents that requested mail-in ballots never arrived.“This week, those calls intensified, we received over a dozen calls from residents who have yet to receive their mail-in ballot,” Flaherty said. “The Election Department told us those were mailed out October 15, 16 and 17. Clearly, there was an issue.”Flaherty estimated that 200-250 mail-in ballots may have been affected. Further, Flaherty alleged that the ballots, primarily from ward six in district two, were thrown into the trash.“We learned yesterday that there was a temporary mail handler that was filling in for another mail handler, a total of five different routes,” he said. “Apparently that individual was dumping mail into the trash.”Flaherty, and the Boston Election Department, urge any residents who did not receive a requested ballot to make plans to vote in-person. Election Day is Tuesday and Boston residents will be deciding on a historic mayoral race between City Councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George. They’ll also vote on a variety of city council races, depending on the voter’s residence.Flaherty is running for re-election to an at-large seat on the city-council in the upcoming election.Under state law, all registered voters were eligible for mail-in ballots but they had to be requested before a deadline on Oct. 27, and the ballots can be returned either through the mail or in designated election drop boxes that are open until polls close on Tuesday — at 8 p.m. WCVB NewsCenter 5 has attempted to contact the USPS for comment and will update this article after they reply. “The post office has an affirmative responisiblity here to come forward, identify that happened and to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the future, to potentially undermine other elections,” said Flaherty. Boston’s Election Department said in a written statement:“The City of Boston Election Department has not heard from the U.S. Postal Service on this issue. The Boston Election Department has mailed out all requests for vote-by-mail ballots. If voters have not received their requested ballots, the City encourages them to make plans to vote on Election Day. Voters can also track their ballots on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/track/trackmyballot.aspx .”

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