Boston City Council President Liz Breadon has closed council offices for Election Day next week, giving every council employee a paid day off without touching their vacation or personal time, and the move has split her colleagues. The council passed a resolution formalizing the policy by a 10-3 vote, with councilors Ed Flynn, John FitzGerald and Erin Murphy opposed.
Breadon's resolution declares Election Day a holiday for city council employees and urges both the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to follow suit. As reported by the Boston Herald, Breadon said declaring the holiday falls squarely within her jurisdiction as council president, and that it formalizes what she described as a de facto policy already in place for decades. She pointed to records showing the council has held no Election Day hearing, meeting or other business since at least 2005.
Council offices will be closed on Election Day, November 3, and the council will not hold meetings or hearings that day. Candace Morales, writing on Breadon's behalf, sent an email Oct. 27 informing councilors of the closure and, per the same account, said councilors and staff interested in helping were encouraged to volunteer as poll workers, assist at polling locations, or support the elections department call center.
No Penalty for Sitting the Day Out
The policy does not require participation. Councilor Erin Murphy said employees receive the paid day off whether they take part in election activities or not, and get it regardless of whether they have voted, plan to vote that day, or volunteer at all. Breadon has said the directive does not prohibit council employees from choosing to work on Election Day if they want to.
Murphy also raised a practical concern: she said the council's fifth-floor doors will be locked and central staff will not answer residents' calls or emails that day. Meanwhile, other Boston city departments will remain open, with employees continuing to work as usual, since the holiday applies only to council staff.
Flynn's Objections and a Blocked Hearing
Ed Flynn called the decision embarrassing and said it reflects poorly on the city council. He chairs a committee that has been seeking a hearing on a grant for internet access for public housing residents, calling that hearing a matter of utmost importance to him. Flynn sent a letter Oct. 27 to Breadon and Mayor Michelle Wu requesting permission for his committee to hold the hearing on Election Day despite the closure.
Flynn also raised concerns that councilors and their staff could use the day off to campaign for political candidates, noting that Boston city councilors will be on the ballot next year. He said he did not support councilors or staff campaigning during the time off. FitzGerald and Murphy joined Flynn in voting against the resolution.
The Turnout Argument
Breadon has defended the closure on turnout grounds, saying voter turnout rarely exceeds 20% in Boston municipal elections and that work is routinely cited as a major barrier to voting. She said over 26% of non-voters in the 2022 midterms cited conflicting work or school schedules as their primary reason for staying home — a figure that lines up with national data; Census Bureau figures show conflicting work or school schedules were the single most commonly reported reason among registered nonvoters in 2022, at 26.5%. Breadon said she intends the council's holiday to pressure Boston and Massachusetts to grant their own employees Election Day off, and has said making Election Day a holiday has been proven to increase voter turnout.
That claim runs up against mixed research. A 2009 study published by Princeton researchers, examining Current Population Survey data from 170,711 individuals across the 2004 and 2006 elections, found no evidence that state-employee Election Day holidays significantly increased voter turnout, concluding that such a holiday by itself is not an effective strategy for boosting participation. That study noted thirteen states offered Election Day holidays for state employees during the period it examined.
Nationally, the picture has shifted somewhat since then. As of 2023, 12 states and Puerto Rico made Election Day a paid day off for state employees, with Kentucky doing so only in presidential election years, according to Pew Research Center. Pew notes that supporters of a national holiday argue the Tuesday schedule — standard in the U.S. since the mid-19th century — often forces people to take time off work to vote, and that a universal day off could boost turnout. The outlet also found the U.S. is among 28 democracies that routinely hold elections on non-holiday weekdays, while 60 democracies vote on weekends and 16 others treat weekday elections as public holidays.
Boston's Election Day Operations
Staffing is central to the debate because Boston's elections operation leans on Election Day volunteers and call-center workers. The city's Election Department needs poll workers and Election Day call takers to be adequately staffed, and Breadon has said closing council business will free staff to volunteer as poll workers, election monitors or election support workers. Boston.gov has said the city launched a high-performing Election Day call center last year and mobilized its 311 team to triage election-related calls, building toward enhanced poll worker training and staffing models for 2026.
Boston is not alone in moving toward an Election Day holiday. New Orleans has made Election Day a city-wide holiday, according to a notice published by the city. In Massachusetts, lawmakers have previously filed legislation on the subject: House Bill H.3344 would make Election Day a legal holiday for state and municipal employees, while Senate Bill S.2059 would establish Election Day as a holiday and provide paid voting leave.
For now, the debate remains centered on Boston's council chamber, where Breadon's 10-3 win leaves Flynn, FitzGerald and Murphy on record in opposition to the policy. Election Day participation itself remains entirely voluntary for council employees under the new policy, whether they vote, volunteer, or simply take the day.
