WEBVTT METADATA Video-Count: 1 Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=NIdYPzVV7Mo NOTE MEETING SECTIONS: Part 1 (Video ID: NIdYPzVV7Mo): - 00:03:53: Meeting Call to Order, Introductions, and Public Comment Rules - 00:06:04: No Email Public Comments; Acknowledging the Passing of Rodney Baker - 00:07:46: Election Operations Director Report: Warehouse Preparations, Voter Registration - 00:09:22: Vote by Mail Applications, Training Seminars, and Mail Services - 00:12:56: E-Pollbook Schedule Clarification; Administration Department Focus Update - 00:13:46: HR Update, Voter Engagement, Security Operations, and Lockdown - 00:16:09: Adjournment: Thank You to Staff, No Further Business Part: 1 1 00:03:53.519 --> 00:04:10.959 Good morning. Call to order the meeting of the Philadelphia City Commissioners Board of Elections for Wednesday, May the 6, 2026. This meeting is in compliance with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The Philadelphia City Commissioners are a 2 00:04:10.959 --> 00:04:26.160 three member bipartisan board of elected officials in charge of elections and voter registration for the city of Philadelphia. Each commissioner is elected to serve a four-year term that coincides with the municipal election 3 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:43.600 cycle for mayor and city council. The commissioner set and enforced departmental policies to administer voter registration and conduct elections in accordance with federal and state voter registration and election laws. City commissioners were created by the Pennsylvania assembly in 1711 where they 4 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:58.080 focus on taxation and held various regulatory powers throughout the centuries. The commissioner started maintaining voter list in 1799 and took on more election related responsibilities but didn't emerge into its current form until the adoption of 5 00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:15.440 the whole rule charter 1951. We will start off with public comments before beginning their comments. Commoners shall state where they live or if they are not a resident of Philadelphia and that they are a Philadelphia taxpayer. Public comment is not an opportunity for 6 00:05:15.440 --> 00:05:31.280 dialogue or Q&A. It is public comment, a chance for you to tell us what you think. Each speaker will have two minutes to speak. However, I may extend the time at my discretion. Public comment must concern matters on today's meeting agenda. Finally, it is my 7 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:48.080 responsibility to preserve the order and decorum of the meetings. As such, profane, slanderous, discriminatory, personal attacks will not be tolerated. If you wish to make a public objection to a perceived Sunshine Act violation, please raise your hand and I will 8 00:05:48.080 --> 00:06:04.240 recognize you. Outburst will not be tolerated. Anyone al anyone wishing to offer public comment, please step forward. Hear none, we will now proceed to email comments. Commissioner Bluestein, are there any email public comments? 9 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:20.560 >> As of 9:45 a.m., there were no email public comments. >> Thank you very much. Uh before we uh proceed to open business, I just wanted to uh pause uh to acknowledge the passing of Rodney Baker. 10 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:37.919 On behalf of the office of the city commissioners, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him. Rodney's presence and contributions will not be forgotten and we recognize that 11 00:06:37.919 --> 00:06:55.360 this loss may be difficult for the for the for the many members of our staff and extended work family. Please also be advised that grief counseling and support services will be made available for any staff member who may need assistance during this time. We ask that 12 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:12.880 everyone keep Rodney's loved ones in their thoughts and prayers. Um, any other other commissioners wanted to make a statement on that? >> Thank you. I uh also would like to express my condolences. 13 00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:28.639 Um, Ronnie was a great guy. I knew him a long time and he will certainly be missed. Um, thank you. Thank you for the recognition. >> Thank you, chairman. and just want to echo uh both the comments of my 14 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:46.400 colleagues and uh express my condolences to his friends and family. >> We will now proceed to old business. First, we have a report from our directors of election operations and administration, Mr. 15 00:07:46.400 --> 00:08:03.440 Joseph Lince and Mark Johnson. Joe, we'll start with you. >> Yes. Good morning, commissioners. Yes. I'd like to say also Ronnie was a good guy. good uh tech and I hope he's resting in peace. So uh this is our public meeting update for May 6, 2026. 16 00:08:03.440 --> 00:08:18.879 At the election warehouse, all units have been busy preparing for the upcoming election. The voting machine service unit is finishing the final repairs and preparing machines for shipment to the polling locations. The e polebook unit has been testing has begun 17 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:35.919 testing which will continue until May 13th. E- pole books will be picked up on May 14th and shipped for pick up on Friday, May 14th. The election materials unit is ready to pack and ship materials for for our board workers. As of today, 18 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:50.640 our voter registration unit has processed 133,24 voter registration applications. 24,50 were paper and 109,154 were electronic. All applications are up 19 00:08:50.640 --> 00:09:05.760 to date and are being reviewed. Monday was the last day of registration at do and spring gardener received 2748 electronic applications and 750 paper applications. All letters regarding discrepancies, 20 00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:22.959 missing signatures, missing information on the applications were printed and mailed this past Monday. Voters have until Monday, May 11th, at the close of business to return those letters. Household cards for polling place changes will go out this Friday. ID 21 00:09:22.959 --> 00:09:37.040 cards will will be printed and mailed by this weekend. As of yesterday, the County Board of Elections approved 82,298 vote by mail applications, an increase of 4,67 22 00:09:37.040 --> 00:09:56.880 from last week's total. Of those 44,461 are paper applications and 37,837 are electronic applications. We have sent 82,293 ballots to voters and 26,887 23 00:09:56.880 --> 00:10:14.000 have been returned so far. This includes civilian, overseas, military, and federal voters. We are currently caught up on processing applications. Voters will need to complete and return their applications to the county board of elections by 5:00 pm this Tuesday, May 24 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:30.560 12th, sorry, to vote by mail for the primary election. ID verification letters have gone out to voters that either did not include the required proof of identifications on their absentee/mail and ballot applications or their proof 25 00:10:30.560 --> 00:10:48.320 of identification could not be verified by the county board of elections office. Voters who have received this letter may submit their proof of ID to the county board of elections via email at phillyelections phill.gov faxus usmail telephone or in 26 00:10:48.320 --> 00:11:04.079 person. Voters have until midnight on Tuesday May 26 to return their proof of identification for the general primary and special election. The deadline for filing cycle 2, second Friday pre- primary campaign finance 27 00:11:04.079 --> 00:11:20.720 report is Friday, May 8th, 2026. All candidates, committees, political committees or committee contributing candidates for offices that have made expenditures to influence a city elections must file a report. 28 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:36.800 The board workers unit is moving into the final weeks of spring train spring training seminars with 3,421 in-person participants and 1,087 online participants thus far. Both the 29 00:11:36.800 --> 00:11:54.079 online training the in-person spring training seminar schedule are available on our website at vote.fill.gov. Weekly reminders will be sent to those who have not yet attended a training session. Currently, 7,658 30 00:11:54.079 --> 00:12:09.040 pole workers have been confirmed to work at at our polling locations. 292 confirmation messages have been sent to pole workers. Also, 659 applications have been received for our involved at 31 00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:26.000 17 program of which 431 have been processed and trained. The county board of elections office located in city hall room 140 along with all of our satellite election offices is open for operation mail ballot services. Voters can request 32 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:40.959 an absentee/mail or replacement ballot in person and return it all in the same visit. Office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Satellite offices are additionally open Saturday and 33 00:12:40.959 --> 00:12:56.320 Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4 pm. Thanks. That's all I have. Commissioner, >> thank you. >> Vice Chair Dilly, did you have any questions for Joe? >> I do. Thank you. Joe, just for accuracy of the record, >> um, when we look at the e polebook 34 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:12.639 schedule, so May 14th is a Thursday. >> That I when I read that, I thought that I thought that was wrong. I I stopped for a little bit. I was like, I think that's wrong. >> So what So what are we doing? We We are packing on Thursday, May 14th, and we're shipping on Thursday, May 14th, or are 35 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:29.839 we shipping on Friday? Friday. It would be May 15th. >> Yeah. And they won't be able to pick they won't be able to pick the We shipped them Friday and they won't be able to pick any materials up until Saturday. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. 36 00:13:29.839 --> 00:13:46.079 >> Secretary Blad, do you have any questions for Joe? >> I do not. Thank you. >> Thanks, sir. >> Good morning, commissioners. >> Morning, Mark. Um, as we continue through the primary election cycle, election administration departments remain focused on election readiness, voter outreach, operational 37 00:13:46.079 --> 00:14:00.639 coordination, and ma maintaining secure and and accessible election services for Philadelphia Philadelphia voters. HR has completed temporary hiring for the 2026 primary election and continues focusing on employee training and workforce 38 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:17.199 readiness. As of May 1st, 2026, the office staffing totals are 196 total employees, including 30 exempt employees, 166 civil service employees. In addition, the office currently has 21 temporary employees supporting primary elections 39 00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:34.079 um 2026 operations. The IT operations continue supporting all commissioner offices and satellite election offices with ongoing website updates, successful completion of the shore voter data pool, active coordination with police personnel on election routing and 40 00:14:34.079 --> 00:14:49.760 continue infrastructure improvements, including RFID and system support initiatives. Voter engagement efforts remain active across the city through outreach events at libraries, senior centers, and community organizations with continued emphasis on multilingual voter 41 00:14:49.760 --> 00:15:06.399 education, voter services, demonstrations, and public awareness of key election deadlines and resources. From a budget and finance standpoint, departments continue coordinating resources and monitoring election related expenditures to support ongoing operations. Um, so far we've done quite 42 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:22.399 well in making sure all our vendors have either turned in um invoices um prior to um this election actually happening or they understand that they need to turn in their invoices directly afterwards so that we can ensure on prompt payment. 43 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:37.040 Um, security operations also remain active through continued coordination with law enforcement and public safety partners along with ongoing facility and access control enhancements. Overall, department continue working collaboratively to ensure a secure, transparent, and accessible election 44 00:15:37.040 --> 00:15:51.759 process for voters of Philadelphia. Next Friday, the um the 15th is when um we'll probably go into our regular lockdown mode and all the coordination with the police department and sheriff office has has been made along with our contract uh 45 00:15:51.759 --> 00:16:09.199 um security um company. So we are we are on schedule from a from a security standpoint to make sure that we meet all our needs. >> Thank you. Uh Vice Chair Dill, do you have any questions for Mark? >> I have none. Thank you, >> Secretary Bluestein. 46 00:16:09.199 --> 00:16:25.600 >> Thank you. I have not. >> Thank you, Mark. I appreciate that. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Mark. And thank you for the rest of our staff. I know people are doing tireless work and we definitely appreciate your sacrifices. This completes our old business for 47 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:42.079 today's meeting. It's our last item on our agenda. But before we adjourn, Vice Chair Dley, do you have any other business to be raised this meeting? >> I have none. Thank you. >> Secretary Bluestein, do you have any other business to be raised at this meeting? >> I have not. Thank you. >> Hearing no other business, I adjourn 48 00:16:42.079 --> 00:16:53.720 today's meeting. Is there a second? Second. >> Secretary Bluestein, please call a role. >> Vice Chair Daily I. >> I vote I. Chairman Spir. This meeting is ajourned.