A one-stop mail voting shop opened in West Philly, with more city locations coming later this year
Mayor Cherelle Parker and the Philadelphia City Commissioners visited a satellite election office on Market Street in West Philadelphia on Tuesday. Other offices will open later this year.
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Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other city officials celebrated the opening of Philadelphia’s first satellite election office for this year’s election in West Philly on Tuesday.
“The city commissioners are protecting our democracy by ensuring Philadelphia’s right to vote and encouraging voter participation,” Parker said.
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The West Philadelphia office, located at 4029 Market St., opened last week and is the first of 10 satellite locations that serve as a one-stop-shop for Philadelphians to vote by mail, meaning voters can apply for a mail ballot, fill it out, and turn it in all in one visit.
The office is similar to locations that opened around the city ahead of the 2020 presidential election, and it’s open in time for the April 23 primary election, and any Philadelphians can use it. Voter services are also available at City Hall, and nine more satellite offices will open across the city in time for the Nov. 5 general election, according to the mayor’s office.
Voters can also register to vote at the center. The deadline to register to vote in the primary is April 8. Voters can request mail ballots until 5 p.m. on April 16 and must return completed ballots by 8 p.m. on primary day.
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Republican City Commissioner Seth Bluestein on Tuesday demonstrated how voters can request a mail ballot, fill it out, then place it in a drop-box right outside. Voters can also just pick up or drop off their ballots at the site.
Pennsylvania Secretary Al Schmidt praised the city for putting bringing voter services to Philadelphia neighborhoods so Philadelphians don’t have to schlep to City Hall.
“I brag about Philadelphia a lot,” he said. “I brag about election administration in Philadelphia a lot, how it’s free, and fair, and safe, and secure. And now I’ll have even more to brag about, and I’m hopeful other counties will follow Philadelphia’s lead in improving voter access.”
The city opened 17 satellite offices for the 2020 election, which drew widespread attention since it was the first time mail voting was available to all Pennsylvanians. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign unsuccessfully sued the city over officials preventing campaign representatives from watching people registering to vote or filling out their mail ballots in the offices.
“All of the eyes of the country, and if not the world, were all on Philadelphia in 2020,” Parker said. " ... I think we’re going to see something similar, if not even more intense, this election cycle.”
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner emphasized that the satellite offices are protected, and referenced two Virginia men who were convicted of carrying guns near the Convention Center as votes from the presidential election were being counted in 2020.
“Trust me — we have handcuffs, we have jail cells, and we have Philadelphia’s juries waiting to get anybody who thinks that they can break the law and squash the vote,” he said.