Here's the 2:45 p.m. report from the Committee of Seventy:
A little more than half-way through the day, there seems to be high turnout and a modest number of complaints across the region. We hope the positive results, so far, are a result of the strong signals regarding Election Day behavior that were sent by Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter, D.A. Lynne Abraham and the massive non-partisan field force of close to 1,000 Committee of Seventy volunteers.
We continue to look into several incidents, including minority polling officials being ousted by Democratic Judges of Elections in Philadelphia. We are also watching the now-36 City divisions (compared with 16 for the primary) with over the permitted 1,200 voters. Here are some other matters that merited attention:
· We received calls from several hospitals asking about voting procedures for patients who did not anticipate a hospital stay, including one new mother from Emmaus, PA who was “desperate to vote.” A voter who becomes physically disabled or ill between 5 p.m. on Friday, October 31st and 8 p.m. today is entitled to vote by emergency absentee ballot. The voter must complete an emergency ballot application and deliver it to the Court of Common Pleas in his or her county no later than 8 p.m. today in order to receive a ballot. Since personal delivery is not possible for hospitalized patients, the patient/voter can designate, in writing, a representative to deliver the emergency ballot to him or her and return the completed ballot to the county Board of Elections. If this isn’t possible, a judge can direct a county deputy sheriff to deliver an emergency absentee ballot. Please advise anyone in this situation to go to www.votespa.com to download the necessary forms. Voters who are uncertain about what to do should call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).
· We are still receiving isolated calls about machine breakdowns in Philadelphia, including both machines at 52nd and Chestnut Streets. However, these reports have slowed down considerably since this morning. Our volunteers are reporting that some committeepeople are nervous about running out of emergency paper ballots during the evening crunch should half of the machines break down. As in the April primary, the City Commissioners are saying that these fears are unfounded.
· At 11:30 a.m., Seventy’s volunteers followed up on a call that the Judge of Elections in the 5th Ward (225 N. 10th Street) was (improperly) requesting current drivers’ licenses with addresses from all voters. They found this report to be true, and also found that the line was being separated by last name as in many other divisions. However, this “line separation” was not explained to the many Chinese-speaking voters waiting in line. Our volunteers found that many voters were confused about why they were being pulled out of line and left the polling place. Seventy reported both of these problems to the City’s Law Department.
· Voters are facing a fair number of registration issues, including names not appearing in the poll book. In Philadelphia’s 58th ward, 40th division, the book was missing all last names from “Aa” to Aj.” There is also some confusion about voter identification, specifically whether or not a voter needs identification to cast a provisional ballot. The answer to that is “no.”
· Some voters are confused about straight party voting. A Philadelphia voter who wants to vote a straight party ticket can hit the party button at the top of the ballot and then the “vote” button. A voter wants to split his or her ticket should vote individually for their favored candidates and then hit the “vote” button.
· Be glad that you don’t vote in Brookhaven, Delaware County. There were snakes reported at the polling place at the Athletic Association (Powell and Albert Roads), along with broken lights and a collapsed ceiling. A voter reported (although our volunteers did not see this) that constables were riding up on horses and threatening voters.
A little more than half-way through the day, there seems to be high turnout and a modest number of complaints across the region. We hope the positive results, so far, are a result of the strong signals regarding Election Day behavior that were sent by Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter, D.A. Lynne Abraham and the massive non-partisan field force of close to 1,000 Committee of Seventy volunteers.
We continue to look into several incidents, including minority polling officials being ousted by Democratic Judges of Elections in Philadelphia. We are also watching the now-36 City divisions (compared with 16 for the primary) with over the permitted 1,200 voters. Here are some other matters that merited attention:
· We received calls from several hospitals asking about voting procedures for patients who did not anticipate a hospital stay, including one new mother from Emmaus, PA who was “desperate to vote.” A voter who becomes physically disabled or ill between 5 p.m. on Friday, October 31st and 8 p.m. today is entitled to vote by emergency absentee ballot. The voter must complete an emergency ballot application and deliver it to the Court of Common Pleas in his or her county no later than 8 p.m. today in order to receive a ballot. Since personal delivery is not possible for hospitalized patients, the patient/voter can designate, in writing, a representative to deliver the emergency ballot to him or her and return the completed ballot to the county Board of Elections. If this isn’t possible, a judge can direct a county deputy sheriff to deliver an emergency absentee ballot. Please advise anyone in this situation to go to www.votespa.com to download the necessary forms. Voters who are uncertain about what to do should call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).
· We are still receiving isolated calls about machine breakdowns in Philadelphia, including both machines at 52nd and Chestnut Streets. However, these reports have slowed down considerably since this morning. Our volunteers are reporting that some committeepeople are nervous about running out of emergency paper ballots during the evening crunch should half of the machines break down. As in the April primary, the City Commissioners are saying that these fears are unfounded.
· At 11:30 a.m., Seventy’s volunteers followed up on a call that the Judge of Elections in the 5th Ward (225 N. 10th Street) was (improperly) requesting current drivers’ licenses with addresses from all voters. They found this report to be true, and also found that the line was being separated by last name as in many other divisions. However, this “line separation” was not explained to the many Chinese-speaking voters waiting in line. Our volunteers found that many voters were confused about why they were being pulled out of line and left the polling place. Seventy reported both of these problems to the City’s Law Department.
· Voters are facing a fair number of registration issues, including names not appearing in the poll book. In Philadelphia’s 58th ward, 40th division, the book was missing all last names from “Aa” to Aj.” There is also some confusion about voter identification, specifically whether or not a voter needs identification to cast a provisional ballot. The answer to that is “no.”
· Some voters are confused about straight party voting. A Philadelphia voter who wants to vote a straight party ticket can hit the party button at the top of the ballot and then the “vote” button. A voter wants to split his or her ticket should vote individually for their favored candidates and then hit the “vote” button.
· Be glad that you don’t vote in Brookhaven, Delaware County. There were snakes reported at the polling place at the Athletic Association (Powell and Albert Roads), along with broken lights and a collapsed ceiling. A voter reported (although our volunteers did not see this) that constables were riding up on horses and threatening voters.
Posted by Catherine Lucey @ 3:06 PM
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