Philadelphia County Board of Elections Ignores State Law and Common Sense in Placing Polls
Harrisburg – What do a bar, a vacant funeral home, an abandoned rowhouse and a Democratic Party headquarters have in common? They're all places that Philadelphia residents will be forced to vote in this year's primary election. Even after the illegitimacy of sixty-three polling places was brought to the attention of the Philadelphia County Board of Elections in 2004, the city's Democratic establishment continues to look the other way when it comes to providing a legal, safe, and fair vote.
“This year's recently released list includes a whopping one-hundred and twelve polling places that are either illegal, inaccessible, or could intimidate voters," noted Republican State Committee Chair Eileen Melvin. “Especially to the detriment of the disabled and those living in lower-income neighborhoods, the Democratic machine in Philadelphia has continued to systematically make voting more and more inaccessible for city residents. In many places, they have taken away the right to privacy in the voting booth, freedom from intimidation at the polls, and even the ability to vote in a safe, public place."
Melvin highlighted, “Astoundingly, in two city divisions, they haven't provided places to vote at all!"
“The arrogance of the Philadelphia County Board of Elections in putting together this list is truly astonishing," continued Melvin. “Given opportunity after opportunity, they have failed to address the most basic and necessary reforms to guarantee a fair vote."
Pennsylvania law states that voting cannot take place in a location used for the sale or serving of alcohol. But that won't stop some residents of the Forty-Fifth Ward from being forced to vote at “Fibber McGee's Pub" or the “Fireside Tavern" in the Thirty-Ninth.
State law also requires that City Commissioners should select public buildings for polling locations wherever possible. However, in the city of Philadelphia, commissioners chose private residences, garages, and vacant rowhouses even in areas where public buildings were available. Such selections clearly bring the privacy of the vote into question. Perhaps most astonishingly, residents of the 18th Division of the Twenty-Ninth Ward will be voting in a “Vacant Funeral Home". It has long been rumored that the dead vote in Philadelphia, but this is apparently the first time they've ever been given their own polling place.
A number of other polling places make a mockery of electoral fairness. In Philadelphia's First Ward, some residents are forced to vote at a location which holds the First Ward Democratic Headquarters and Senator Vince Fumo's district office. Others must travel to the private residences of Democratic partisans. Such voting in private homes also provides difficulties for disabled voters, exemplified by a polling place in the Sixty-Second Ward located in a private basement.
“The City Commissioners can not be allowed to withhold equal access to the vote from the disabled and lower-income residents," said Chairman Melvin. “Time and time again, advocates have fought to bring fairness to the election process in Philadelphia to no avail. In this day and age, we simply cannot afford this kind of negligence. Philadelphians deserve better."
The Final Tally
* 3 polling places are in bars/pubs
* 9 are in vacant buildings
* 80 are in private residences
* 17 are in garages
* 1 is in a Democratic Party Headquarters
* And 2 have NOT YET BEEN Established!
pagop.org |
