PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia city commissioners voted Wednesday to deny election monitors the authority to enter restricted areas of polling places.
The move comes in response to notice from the Trump administration that they are sending some of their 1,000 planned poll watchers to Philadelphia.
Commissioner Lisa Deeley proposed the motion, which passed 2-0, in hopes of reassuring voters that they will not be intimidated. The passage was met with cheers and applause from onlookers.
“I’m hearing it all over the city, how on edge the voters are,” Deeley said. “My phone is blowing up with panicked community leaders. If we permit Trump’s people into our polling places, the voters of this city will never forgive us, and they should not.”
State law prohibits anyone but election officials and voters casting their ballots to get closer than ten feet away from a polling place.
“They may be out there by the committee people,” Deeley said. “They may ask voters about their experience voting but I want to make it clear: any voter intimidation will not be tolerated.”
The third commissioner, Republican Seth Bluestein, abstained from voting. He called the motion premature and likely unnecessary, given that the Department of Justice has not requested access to any restricted area.
Commission chair Omar Sabir disagreed.
“Some people may say this is overdoing it or we’re turning up the temperature,” said Sabir. I say the temperature has already been turned up.”
Sabir cited the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine elections nationwide in 2020, including in Philadelphia, as evidence that the commission needed to be prepared for similar efforts in 2026.
“Philadelphia is the birthplace of democracy, and I’ll be damned if democracy dies on my watch,” he said.
