The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to move the 2021 preliminary election up a week to Sep. 14. A spokesman for the acting Mayor Kim Janey said she intends to approve the move.
The change, originally requested by former Mayor Marty Walsh, would give the city elections department an additional week to certify votes and prepare the next batch of ballots between the preliminary and the November general election. Voting by mail could tax the election department's capabilities, officials said.
Eleven of the 12 councilors at the virtual meeting voted for the change. Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, who is running for mayor, voted present.
The council also passed an ordinance to limit police use of chemical crowd control agents, like tear gas and pepper spray, and kinetic impact projectiles, known informally as rubber and plastic bullets.
The measure passed 7-5, with Councilors Essaibi George, Frank Baker, Michael Flaherty, Ed Flynn and Matt O'Malley voting against it.
Wednesday’s passage marked the second time the council has taken up the issue. It previously passed but was vetoed by Walsh.
On Wednesday, Councilor Lydia Edwards said the refiled ordinance “smoothed out” language that concerned Walsh regarding the police commissioner’s authority to discipline officers who violate the restrictions and the expectations for other law enforcement agencies who operate within Boston.
The newly passed measure provides an exemption to the restriction when a high-ranking supervisor on the scene of an incident authorizes the use of the weapons “in response to ongoing acts of violence or destruction of property,” according to city documents.
The latest version of the tear gas and rubber bullets restrictions also requires the Boston Police Department to preserve and present body camera footage of the weapons being used to the city’s new Office of Police Accountability and Transparency “and to any state agency which has any oversight responsibilities for law enforcement agencies or departments” within 10 business days.
Janey’s spokesman said she intends to sign the new restrictions.