PHILADELPHIA- In celebration of National Voter Registration Day, Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis attended the opening of a satellite elections office that Philadelphia city commissioners said will make it easier for city residents to vote.
“This is what democracy looks like,” Davis said Tuesday in his West Philadelphia office. “It’s about expanding access to make sure every person has the right to participate in our democratic process.”
The satellite office was the third permanent office to open in Philadelphia. All are funded by the Philadelphia City Council and will operate seven days a week before and after the November election. The office will offer voters a range of election services, including registration and assistance with absentee and mail-in voting.
Philadelphia City Commissioner Omar Sabir, a Democrat and chairman of the three-member, bipartisan board that oversees the city’s elections, told the Capital-Star that he is confident the city will have 10 offices open by mid-October, one in each council district.
Sabir said “we live in a period of disinformation,” but told the Capital-Star that these offices will allow “citizens to come in and talk to a live person, not a voicemail, not a website, about their voting rights” and receive correct information.
Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, said at the office opening that it was a “great day for democracy in Philadelphia” and emphasized the importance of opening offices across the city.
“It’s essential that we bring constituent resources directly to the community. From some parts of the city, it can take over an hour to get to City Hall,” Bluestein told the Capital-Star. “So having an office in each council district allows us to better serve our constituents.”
“We are making a commitment that we will be opening permanent offices throughout the year in the neighborhoods where our constituents live,” Bluestein told the Capital-Star, noting that the offices will be open year-round, unlike in past election years or other parts of the state.
Sabir described the offices, the first of which opened in April, as providing “unprecedented access” to voters in the city.
He told the Capital-Star that he hopes Philadelphia’s actions “can become a model for the entire country.”
Commissioners encouraged people who wanted to learn more about the satellite election offices to visit them. vote.phila.gov.
In addition to being National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday was also Constitution Day, and on the same day Two special elections are being held for the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Lauren Cristella, President and CEO of Good Government Group Committee of Seventysaid it was “an honor to be here today on three civic holidays” at the office opening. She said “offices like this bring people closer to government,” but she also encouraged those in attendance to check with friends and family about their voter registration status and apply to become an election worker if they are able, noticing that there is a shortage of such workers.
One of Cristella predecessors in the Committee of Seventy is the Secretary of State of Pennsylvania, Al Schmidt.
Schmidt, a Republican, served as a Philadelphia city commissioner during the 2020 election and received threats after disinformation about widespread voter fraud in the city spreadGovernor Josh Shapiro, Democrat, appointed Schmidt as official in 2023. who oversees elections throughout the state.
During his speech, Davis mentioned Schmidt’s work as Philadelphia city commissioner and expressed confidence in Philadelphia’s ability to conduct the upcoming elections.
“We know that Philadelphia knows how to run elections. We know that elections are safe and secure, and we need to make sure that everyone who is eligible has the right to participate,” Davis said. “And you have our commitment that the Shapiro-Davis administration will do everything it can across the Commonwealth to make sure that people can freely and safely exercise their right to vote.”
Last year, on National Voter Registration Day, Shapiro signs executive order to automatically register eligible residents to vote when they go to the PennDOT licensing center.
