CIty Council in 60 Seconds
City Council Pushes for New Voting Precincts, Wards
The council also took steps to reduce the number of injuries and deaths among young athletes with a proposed ordinance.
City councilors voted unanimously on Wednesday to petition the state Legislature to require the city to divide its precincts and wards equally based on population counts from the decennial census. A state law has exempted Boston from restructuring its precincts and wards for the past 80 years, as the majority of other towns do, said Councilor Michael Ross. Council President Stephen Murphy said that some Boston precincts have as many as 6,000 residents and others as few as 1,000. Having the same number of people in each precinct, Ross said, would shorten lines at polling locations, thus encouraging more people to vote. In addition, Murphy said the city might be able to cut the number of locations, staff and other Election Day resources and …
