Six months.
That's how long NBC10 Boston waited to get the emails of one City of Boston employee from a single day of work.
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WATCH HEREOpen government advocates say it's a glaring example of how the state's public records law lacks teeth, allowing municipalities and state agencies to drag their feet without consequences.
In this case, the employee was Election Commissioner Eneida Tavares, and the date requested was Election Day in November.
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SIGN UP After several Boston polling locations ran out of ballots, the public records request was an attempt to get some behind-the-scenes details about what caused the problems and how city officials responded.
When the documents finally arrived months later, some of the emails revealed the frustration of voters who stood in long lines or left polling places without casting their ballots.
"This is absolutely unacceptable and is cancelling people's right to vote!" wrote a voter in West Roxbury.
"How is it that you people did not supply this facility with enough ballots?" asked a voter in Hyde Park. "I've been voting for over 40 years and never had this happen."
The emails also contained stern messages from the office of Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, which oversees elections throughout the state.
"You need to figure out where ballots need to be delivered ASAP," wrote an attorney in the elections division. "And then use police cars (lights and sirens) to deliver ballots."
Galvin investigated the failures and eventually announced he was appointing a receiver to take charge of the upcoming election this November in Boston.
His office also oversees compliance with the public records law.
"Boston, once again, has issues when it comes to public records," Galvin told NBC10 Boston. "They're not very good at it."
The experience with the request for emails backs up Galvin's sentiment. NBC10 Boston appealed to the secretary of the commonwealth to assist with the process, but the case still languished for weeks even after the state's involvement.
Records show the number of people appealing public records denials or lack of response in Boston has steadily increased in recent years. In 2017, there were a little more than 100 appeals. Last year, there were nearly 300.
"We have one of the weakest public record laws in the country, and this is a good example of why," said Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition.
Silverman said there are few resources to compel municipalities and state agencies to provide public records in a timely manner. In our case, there were sporadic email updates that provided few answers about the reasons for the lengthy delays.
"Our team is actively working to fulfill your request as promptly as possible," read several messages from the City of Boston's public records division. "We appreciate your patience and understanding during this process."
We reached out to Mayor Michelle Wu's office to ask about the six-month wait and what the administration is doing to improve constituent access to public records. On Tuesday evening, a mayoral spokesperson said the number of public records requests has increased considerably over recent years.
While it remains unclear about why our request took so long, the spokesperson told us over the past month, the average request is being closed out within 10 days.
"Many people just don't have the time or the financial resources to bring these cases to court, so unfortunately, oftentimes, these requests are just abandoned and we never get the answers to the questions we originally asked," Silverman said.
