Election Day Holiday for Council Staff

At a glance

What: Docket No. 1975, a resolution by Council President Breadon (co-sponsors Louijeune and Santana, others added) declaring Election Day a holiday for City Council employees and calling on the City of Boston and the Commonwealth to do the same.
Where it stands: adopted 10-3 on a roll call on October 21, 2026. FitzGerald, Flynn and Murphy voted no.
Effect: Breadon said she will close the Council on Election Day (November 3, 2026) with no meetings or hearings; the resolution covers the 13 councilor offices, not central staff. It is a statement of values, not binding on the city or state.

For: Breadon cited census data that over 26% of nonvoters in the 2022 midterms gave conflicting work or school schedules. Louijeune said a related hearing was held two weeks earlier. Mejia said she first won by one vote and that more working-class voters with the day off could change races. Durkan voted yes while acknowledging the optics and said it is a year when councilors are not on the ballot. Pepén saw it as setting a precedent.
Mixed: Councilor Coletta Zapata voted yes but said her office stays staffed to answer polling-place questions and asked for a more neutral, fine-tuned version in an election year.
Against: Flynn said it gives incumbents a staffing advantage over challengers and sets a bad precedent. Murphy said staff already have flexible schedules and early voting is open through October 30, and she would back a citywide holiday. FitzGerald preferred persuading employers to give time off to vote.

About 31 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-21 - City Council	31

2026-10-21 - City Council - Debate on Docket No. 1975 and 10-3 roll call; adopted.
2026-11-04 - City Council - No. 2095 (Councilor Flynn on closing the Council on Election Day) was placed on file.