Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin is dropping the hammer on the Hub after an “unacceptable” end to last year’s presidential election.

Following the Boston election ballot mess in November when the city failed to supply polling sites with enough voting materials, Galvin has ordered the Boston Elections Commission to overhaul its practices and comply with state election laws.

Galvin on Monday announced that he will appoint a designee to help Boston with election administration. That state designee will remain in place through the 2025 and 2026 elections.

An investigator in Galvin’s office, General Counsel Rebecca Murray, looked into Boston’s 2024 general election. She issued a report of her findings on Monday.

“Serious problems occurred in connection with the administration of the State Election in the City,” Murray wrote in the report. “It has been determined that the Boston Election Department failed to supply polling locations with a sufficient number of ballots causing some locations to run out of ballots for a significant period of time.

“This resulted in voters in the City experiencing needless and unacceptable delays in voting and, in some cases, disfranchisement because the voter was unable to wait,” Murray added.

Massachusetts election law requires at least one ballot to be available for every voter. Despite receiving an ample supply of ballots from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office before Election Day, the city of Boston failed to comply with this state law, according to the report.

Murray also found that the city has inadequate communications systems, leading to slow contact with polling locations. The city also reportedly did not provide sufficient training to poll workers about ballot shortages and tabulator issues.

The investigator concluded that the shortage was exacerbated by the city’s failure to maintain contact with polling places throughout the day. While phones are provided in each precinct, the Boston Elections Department did not complete regular check-ins with polling places.

Also, phone systems at City Hall were unable to handle the volume of incoming calls. As a result, both election officials and voters were unable to reach the Elections Department as ballot supplies dwindled.

“A major problem that was evident was the inability of the Boston Election Department to directly communicate, in real time, with each voting precinct in order to determine and prioritize those locations that had run out of ballots or had an immediate need for additional ballots,” Murray wrote.

A spokesperson for the city of Boston did not immediately respond to comment on Monday.

State law allows the Secretary of the Commonwealth to investigate violations of election laws by election officials, and to order officials to comply with the law.

Consistent with the report’s recommendations, Galvin is ordering the city of Boston to take specific actions to review and overhaul existing practices with respect to poll worker training, communications, and ballot supplies.

Under the order, the Boston Elections Department must develop comprehensive plans for pre-election preparations, Election Day administration, and any post-election issues.

Subject to Galvin’s approval, the city must adopt plans for ensuring communication with all polling places and members of the public on Election Day. Any issues that arise on Election Day must be monitored and reported to Galvin’s Elections Division immediately.

To help the city comply with his order and administer upcoming city and state elections, Galvin will appoint a designee to review the proposed plans, monitor implementation of those plans, and report to his office on any issues that may arise before, on, or after Election Day.

Galvin’s designee will remain in place through the end of 2026, assisting with the 2025 municipal elections and 2026 state elections. The order states that it may be extended beyond 2026, if necessary.

Poll workers use household lamps to see ballots due to dim lighting at Cathedral High School. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
A Boston election supply box sits on a table at the Holy Name Parish Hall polling location. (Angela Rowlings/Boston Herald, File)