Councilmember Cindy Bass declared herself the winner of a Philly Democratic ward election — and may have violated party rules

The meeting lasted only a few minutes.

City Councilmember Cindy Bass on Monday night was facing a challenge in her bid to be reelected as the Democratic leader of Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward. Her opponent, Octavius Price, had the backing of a well-organized group of progressive activists, many of whom were newly elected as committeepeople in last month’s Democratic primary election.

As the incumbent, Bass chaired the meeting to determine her own fate as ward leader, and she held a voice vote to determine whether she or Price had more support among the committeepeople assembled at the Germantown Seventh-day Adventist Church.

A video of the meeting obtained by The Inquirer appears to show a narrowly divided room, with many people saying, “Aye,” in support of both Bass and Price. Attendees cried out for a roll call, in which the committeepeople’s votes would be counted one by one, clarifying which candidate had more support.

But Bass immediately announced herself the winner, rejected all motions from committeepeople objecting to the vote, and quickly adjourned the meeting, the video shows.

Bass, a centrist Democrat, narrowly won reelection to her fourth term on Council in 2023 and has clashed with left-leaning activists in her Northwest Philadelphia-based 8th District. A progressive takeover of Bass’ own ward could hinder her reelection chances in next year’s Council election.

She is now facing accusations that she skirted the party’s procedures for ward reorganization meetings by declaring herself the victor while denying requests for a roll call vote.

Democratic City Committee Chair Bob Brady said Monday night that wards can use voice votes for leadership elections, especially when the results are “overwhelming,” such as when an incumbent is running unopposed. But if a committeeperson calls for a roll call vote to ensure greater accuracy, he said, the request must be honored.

“You can do a voice vote,“ Brady said in an interview. ”If they do a voice vote and somebody calls for a roll call, you gotta do a roll call.”

On Monday night, Bass, who has been ward leader since 2018, maintained she had the votes to win another four-year term. But she did not respond to a request for comment on why she ignored requests for a roll call.

“We had the votes,” she said in an interview. “No matter what I did, some of these people are not going to be happy.”

She added: “It’s OK. That’s democracy.”

Ward leaders and committeepeople are the frontline workers of the local party, charged with getting out the vote for Democratic candidates running for everything from Municipal Court to president.

Fights over control of the city’s 69 Democratic ward leader positions have for years provided flashpoints in the long-running battles pitting the party establishment against anti-corruption reformers and, more recently, the local progressive movement.

» READ MORE: A reform coalition is targeting Philly committee seats — and drawing party pushback

Brady, who is expected to be reelected to an 11th term as party chair next week, declined to comment on the results of the 22nd Ward election, but said he expects it will be challenged. Challenges are heard by the party’s contest committee, which is made up of other ward leaders. If Price formally objects, the committee would likely hear the challenge Saturday, Brady said.

“[Price] would have to notify us that he’s contesting the election, and then we’ll hear from both sides,” Brady said.

The committee, he said, could declare a winner if they determine the results are clear, or call for a rerun of the election.

Price, a fiber optic engineer, called Bass’ handling of the election “unjust” and said he plans to file a challenge.

“I initially ran to be a committeeperson because I believe in democracy and I believe in transparency and fairness,” Price said in a statement following the vote. “This was an example of moral decay and emboldened cruelty and corruption that has made so many people disillusioned with participating in politics.”

Another point of contention on Monday was the number of people in the room, which could become a key factor when the contest committee reviews the election results because it changes the number of votes needed for a majority.

Price, whose supporters whipped votes ahead of the meeting, said that by his count at least 26 committeepeople were planning to vote against Bass and for a candidate who, like him, supports “open wards,” which allow committeepeople to vote on political endorsements rather than letting the ward leader decide unilaterally for their entire jurisdiction.

Price said his supporters counted 48 committeepeople present on Monday evening, meaning he should have had the votes sufficient for a victory.

But a sign-in sheet at the meeting told a different story.

The sheet, a photo of which was obtained by The Inquirer, listed 55 committeepeople and appeared to include a tally of their allegiances before the election was even held. Price said ward organizers who appeared to be working with Bass circulated the sheet at the beginning of the meeting. The paper showed 29 for Bass and 26 for “other.”

“Her sheet has a total of 55 people who voted, but we know for a fact that’s not the case,” he said.

Former Councilmember Derek S. Green, a 22nd Ward committeeperson who ran against Bass for ward leader in 2018, flirted with running for the post again this year. But he did not end up throwing his hat in the ring, resulting in a one-on-one showdown between Bass and Price.

Green, who was present Monday night, declined to comment on the election results.

After Price was nominated during the meeting, Bass launched into the voice vote.

“All in favor of Octavius Price, signify by saying, ‘Aye,” Bass said. “All in favor of Cindy Bass, signify by saying, ‘Aye.’”

In the video recording of the meeting, many people can be heard supporting each of the candidates. Even before Bass announced the winner, a participant can be heard saying, “roll call.”

Bass then said, “In the call of the chair, the ayes have it for Cindy Bass.” The room immediately erupted with objections.

“No, no, no — you’ve got to have a roll call," one person said. Others shouted: “Roll call!”

“There will be no motions accepted on the floor,” Bass said over the commotion. “We’re going to have to adjourn the meeting. There is no point of order. So the motion has been made — that concludes — there is no additional business for the ward tonight. Thank you for coming.”

The tensions didn’t end there.

After the election, participants in the meeting clashed outside the church as a man and a woman holding the sign-in sheet refused to let other committeepeople record their attendance on the form, a separate video reviewed by The Inquirer shows.

“Y’all got to get back. Better get back,” the man told a crowd pleading to sign the forms. “Shut up!”

As the man walked away, one person can be heard turning to Green, who was caught in the middle of the fracas.

“Derek, we just wanted to get our sign-in [on] the sheet. He took it from us,” the man said.

“I know. That’s why I came,” Green responded. “It’s not right. It’s not right.”