Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (at podium) speaks at the opening of a satellite election office in Philadelphia Sept. 17, 2024. The office will remain open year-round. (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)
PHILADELPHIA— To mark National Voter Registration Day, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis was on hand for the opening of a satellite election office that Philadelphia City Commissioners say will make voting more accessible for city residents.
“This is what democracy looks like,” Davis said Tuesday at the office in West Philadelphia. “It’s about expanding access to make sure that every person has the right to participate in our democratic process.”
The satellite office was the third permanent one to open in Philadelphia. They are all funded by appropriations from Philadelphia City Council and will operate 7 days a week before and after the November election. The office will offer constituents a range of voter services, including registration and assistance with mail-in or absentee ballots.
Philadelphia City Commissioner Omar Sabir, a Democrat and chairman of the three-member bipartisan board that oversees elections in the city, told the Capital-Star that he feels confident there will be 10 offices open across the city by mid-October, one in each council district.
Sabir said that we’re “in a period of misinformation, disinformation,” but told the Capital-Star that these offices will let “the citizens to be able to walk in and have a conversation with a live person, not a voicemail, not on the website, about their voting rights,” and to receive accurate information.
Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, said it was a “beautiful day for democracy in Philadelphia,” at the office opening and emphasized the importance of the offices to be opened across the city.
“It is essential that we bring voter resources directly to the communities. It could take over an hour to drive from some parts of the city down to City Hall,” Bluestein told the Capital-Star. “So by having an office in each council district, it allows us to better serve our constituents.”
“We’re making a commitment to year round, permanent offices in the neighborhoods where our constituents live,” Bluestein told the Capital-Star, noting the offices would remain open year-round, unlike in previous 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 what Philadelphia is doing “could be a model across our country.”
The commissioners encouraged those who wanted to learn more about the satellite election offices to visit vote.phila.gov.
In addition to Tuesday being National Voter Registration Day, it was also Constitution Day, and the same day that two special elections are taking place for seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly .
Lauren Cristella, President and CEO of good government group Committee of Seventy , said it was an “honor to be here today on a trifecta of civic holidays,” at the office opening. She said that “offices like this one bring people closer to their government,” but also encouraged those in attendance to check in on friends and family about their voter registration status and apply to become a poll worker, if they are able to, noting there is a shortage of such workers .
One of Cristella’s predecessors at the Committee of Seventy is Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Al Schmidt .
Schmidt, a Republican, served as City Commissioner in Philadelphia during the 2020 election and received threats after misinformation spread about widespread voter fraud in the city . Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, tapped Schmidt in 2023 to serve as the official who oversees elections across the state.
Davis mentioned Schmidt’s service as Philadelphia City Commissioner during his remarks and expressed faith in Philadelphia being able to administer the upcoming election.
“We know Philadelphia knows how to run elections. We know that the elections are safe and secure, and we need to make sure that everyone who’s eligible has the right to participate,” Davis said. “And you have our commitment that the Shapiro-Davis administration is going to do everything it can across the Commonwealth to make sure folks can freely and safely exercise their right to vote.”
Last year on National Voter Registration Day, Shapiro signed an executive order to automatically register eligible residents to vote when they go to a PennDOT license center.
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