PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For 120 years, ensuring safe and fair elections in Philadelphia has been a priority of nonpartisan watchdog group The Committee of Seventy. This year, once again, the nonprofit is working with other entities in the city to make sure the upcoming election is as smooth as possible.
The Committee of Seventy was founded in 1904 by a group of business leaders who were frustrated by Philadelphia's reputation for political corruption. Since then, the group has provided essential voter education — not just how to vote, but what happens to a ballot after it is submitted. The group has advocated for key issues, such as the transition to mail-in voting, the importance of poll worker training, and civic education.
To help voters as they prepare to cast their ballot in the 2024 general election, Committee of Seventy released a nonpartisan Voter Guide. It helps voters learn about every office, candidate and measure on the ballot and gives information about when, where and how to vote.
“You will get your specific ballot — so, your state reps; if it's a municipal election, your council people; your auditor — you know, any of that. So it's a really great resource,” said Committee of Seventy CEO Lauren Cristella.
“You can … do your research about all of the candidates that are in each race at every level, save your picks and bring it with you to the polling place.”
🎧 Bridging Philly: 'Election security with the Committee of Seventy'
With new voters joining the rolls every year, and changes to the process popping up, educating the voting public is a never-ending task, says Cristella. She says all voters need to know that their vote will be counted, no matter how it is cast.
“We have presented information sessions to dozens and dozens of partners, election cycle after election cycle, just explaining the rules of the game.”
Cristella says they go to great lengths to ensure transparency, which she says is key to dispelling misinformation and ensuring voter confidence in all elections.
She points to the confusion during the 2020 primary election.
“A colleague and I went every single day after the election to where they were processing the mail-in ballots and set up a webcam. And we were there to watch, we had credentials, and just pointed these webcams at what was happening to show people.”
Cristella says the longer it takes for election results to be reported, the more people question what's going on. Pennsylvania tends to crawl behind other states that are able to get all their mail-in ballots counted on Election Night, because some things were overlooked when the new voting laws were passed in 2019, said Cristella — for example, pre-canvassing.
“Letting our election officials start that process of opening the envelopes, smoothing out the ballots, preparing them to be counted,” she said. “Florida has weeks to do that work. We get to start at 7 a.m. on Election Day.”
Oct. 21 is the deadline to register to vote for the Nov. 5 general election.
Bridging Philly podcast | 🎧 44 min.
For the full interview with Committee of Seventy, listen to this week’s episode of KYW Newsradio's original podcast Bridging Philly here or on the Audacy app — or snag it anywhere you usually get podcasts.