Boston mayor: Council must pass new redistricting map by May 30 to avoid election delay

Mayor Michelle Wu said the City Council must act with “urgency” to avoid an election delay, by passing a new redistricting map by May 30, and is seeking approval for a home rule petition that would extend candidate filing deadlines after a federal court ruling upended this process.

Submitted to the council ahead of its Wednesday meeting in light of a Monday ruling that barred implementation of the city’s current redistricting map, the mayor’s petition would push the nomination paper filing deadline from May 23 to June 20, and stretch the signature certification process to July 7 for city registrars.

These new timelines would be dependent on councilors passing a new redistricting map by May 30, the cutoff date for keeping the city’s preliminary election date, Sept. 12, in place, Wu wrote in a Wednesday letter to the City Council.

“This home rule petition gives the Elections Department the tools they may need to facilitate the orderly administration of an election that provides potential candidates a full opportunity to run for office after district boundaries are changed,” Wu wrote.

If approved by the Council, the home rule petition would also need approval from the state Legislature and would have to be signed into law by the governor.

Wu said she plans to submit a new redistricting map to councilors in the coming days, “that provides a robust opportunity for all voters to see themselves represented and reflected on the City Council, and prioritizes placing whole neighborhoods together with individual districts.”

A particular point of contention during council spats that led up last fall’s 9-4 approval of the city’s redistricting map, and the lawsuit filed by a group of residents that quickly followed, was the process by which race was factored into how districts three and four were redrawn by city councilors.

The changes moved a chunk of southern Dorchester from district three to four, which advocates said were necessary to add more white voters, to avoid a situation of “packing” Black voters in D4.

Outgoing District 3 Councilor Frank Baker, who, along with Council President Ed Flynn reportedly contributed $10,000 apiece to help fund the lawsuit, opposed the changes. The map was co-sponsored by City Councilors Liz Breadon, chair of the redistricting committee, and Ricardo Arroyo, who preceded Breadon in that role.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris wrote in a Monday ruling that the City Council, while acting in “good faith,” had likely violated the Constitution — specifically the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment — by factoring race in the new map’s creation, and issued a preliminary injunction barring its use in the November election.

Wu said the City Council must approve a new redistricting map by May 30, which is the latest date possible “in order to permit the Elections Department to conduct a signature petition process, certify signatures and print and mail ballots in time to conduct the Sept. 12 preliminary election.”

Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office told the Herald Tuesday that changing the dates for the preliminary or Nov. 7 general election would require a home rule petition, passed on the local and state level, or a court order.

This last occurred 40 years ago in Boston, when the 1983 preliminary was delayed by two weeks and the general election was postponed by a week, after a federal judge threw out a city redistricting map that was deemed unconstitutional.

In that case, which featured a mayoral race where Raymond Flynn defeated civil rights activist Mel King, one of the plaintiffs in that year’s lawsuit that also centered around race, the City Council sent a home rule petition to the Legislature for approval.

“The Elections Department, with the support of the Law Department and in cooperation with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, will continue to determine whether the legal changes needed to conduct the election after a new map is approved can be accomplished purely through local action,” Wu wrote.

“Should further guidance determine this to be appropriate, the Administration will promptly notify the Council committee to which this matter is assigned of the opportunity to modify this legislation into a city ordinance.”

Adam Cederbaum, a city attorney, said the Boston Law Department is reviewing the federal judge’s order “to determine the scope of its impact on this year’s municipal election.”

“Complying with the court will necessitate the passing of a map in short order on a timeline that allows the Elections Department to run the election,” Cederbaum wrote in a Wednesday letter to the City Council.

Wu added, “We request that the City Council take up this matter with urgency to establish signature collection procedures as quickly as possible, and also approve a new redistricting map on or before May 30.”

This is a developing story.