BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The race was still too close to call in Massachusetts' Fourth District on Wednesday, with votes still being counted in towns like Franklin, Wellesley and Newton.
Due to the volume of mail-in ballots that were submitted up until the deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday, several local election officials had reported to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office that they had not yet completed their final counts by Wednesday afternoon.
Following Galvin's request, a judge approved a request for local election officials to continue counting the State Primary ballots that were received on time and had not been tallied as of the end of Tuesday night.
In order to ensure that the ballot counting process is fully transparent for all candidates and voters, Galvin said he is also filing a petition with Suffolk Superior Court to ensure local election officials have the legal authorization they need to tally ballots in a manner that is open to public observation.
“On Election Day, there are strict procedures in place to make sure that ballots are counted in public view, where anyone may observe the process," Galvin said. "It is important that we preserve that same level of transparency for ballots counted after Election Day."
Galvin’s office said it has reached out to the leading Democratic candidates in the Fourth Congressional District, where several communities have yet to complete their counts, to inform them of the steps his office is taking.
Galvin is seeking to ensure that those candidates, as well as any other candidates or members of the public, will be able to observe the counting of any outstanding ballots, according to his office.
When asked about a possible timeline, Galvin said his office expects to have the results finalized by Thursday.
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