for for for good morning before we begin our meeting uh would like to start uh with a moment of uh silence Vice chair dly did you want to make a statement before we begin the
meeting thank you chairman the mayor and the governor spoke multiple times over the last few days about faith and prayer all three of us are faithful individuals attending church synagogue or mosque but when a plane crashed and started a
raging Inferno right where I grew up and lived for over 50 years I asked why how could the god I pray to allow this to happen commissioner bethl referred to the scene as a war zone Darkness rain the smell of burning jet fuel I again
asked why but with the passage of time I realized what could have been no matter what the final number of casualties ends up being it could have been so much worse a few feet one way or the other and the plane hits and blows a major gas line or an entire block of ROMs if the
plane ran into trouble a few seconds earlier it comes right down on a crowded Macy's so I thank you for the moment of silence as a as a time of reflection to remember those who have died those that are missing and those who are injured
injured both physically and mentally having to live with the Trum that they witnessed but also to be thankful either for the good luck or for those of us who believe the fortunate intervention of a higher being who prevented a much worse
tragedy I would also like to end this by again thanking the staff of the office of emergency management they are not just vital to helping us pull off elections but also helping to steer the city through a catastrophe they were as
professional as always Friday tonight and Beyond thank you chair sure secretary BL just thank you for your words they were very beautiful and our condolences to everyone who lost family and friends
uh in the plane crash okay so I would also like to Echo the sentiments and also like to thank Vice chair Dilly for being on the scene as as you there you're representing the board City commissioners and we thank you for being there okay so good morning again I call
to the order the me meeting of the Philadelphia City commissioners Board of Elections for Wednesday February 5th 2025 this meeting is in compliance with the Pennsylvania Sunshine act the Philadelphia City commissioners are a three member bipartisan Board of elected
officials in charge of Elections and voter registrations for the city of Philadelphia each commissioner is elected to serve a four-year term that coincides es with the municipal election cycle for mayor and city council the commissioner set and enforce
departmental policies to administer voter registration and conduct elections in accordance with federal state voter registration and election laws the City commissioners were created by the Pennsylvania assembly in 1711 with the focus on Taxation and held various
regulatory Powers throughout the centuries the commissioner started maintaining border list in 1799 and took on more election related responsibilities but didn't emerge in its current form until the adoption of the Philadelphia homeo Charter in
1951 we will start off with public comments before beginning their comments commenters shall state where they live or if they are not a resident in Philadelphia and that they are a Philadelphia taxpayer public comment is not an opportunity for 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 and my discretion public comment must concern matters on today's meeting agenda finally it is my
responsibility to preserve the order and the Quorum of the meetings as such profane slanderous discriminatory or 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
recognize you Outburst will not be tolerated anyone wishing to offer public comment please step forward rep hearing n we will now move to a report from the secretary email public comments commissioner blin are there any public comments there were no email
public comments as of 9:45 a.m. thank you very much we will now proceed to O business first we have a report from our directors of operation Mr Joe Lynch Good morning Joe morning morning Commissioners this is our public meeting update for February 5th 2025
at the election Warehouse the voting machine service unit has been busy administrating the blue Crest test in preparation for the upcoming primary election the eole book unit has been working on Express vote printer testing and that and that the team is preparing
for connect connectivity testing with the nibs the electri materials unit has been working to make sure that the supplies needed for our pole workers are ordered organized and ready for packing for our voter registration report for the election cycle to date they have
processed 5 58,4 194 voter registration applications of which 2800 were paper all applications are up to date all AVN and five year fiveyear notices have been sent out they are print printing applications voters on the annual mail
in and absentee list will be receiving their annual application in the mail shortly voters will need to complete and return their application to the County Board of Elections to continue to automatically receive either a mailin absentee ballot or for each election in
2025 voters May apply online rather than return in the paper application petitions for the upcoming Municipal primary election will be available on our website vote. phila.gov starting February 11th the County Board of Elections office at City Hall Room
142 and our satellite offices will be printing petition packets for anyone who needs assistance any democrat or republican interested in running for judge of Elections inspector of Elections City controller and district attorney will need to complete and file their petitions with the County Board of
Elections office room 142 petitions cannot be circulated or filed in until Tuesday February 18th the last day to circulate in final nomination petitions is March 11th and the last day for candidates to withdrawal is on March 26
2025 cycle 7 annual campaign Finance reports have been scanned and are being uploaded to our website satellite election offices have developed an engagement plan to collaborate with City agencies and elected officials to bring essential resources to the community while
increasing awareness of Voters services to facilitate these Partnerships we have have implemented a satellite office space use request form allowing agencies to request the use of our offices during non-election periods this initiative
will provide residents with greater access to city services while reinforcing the critical role of our office in supporting voter engagement requests will be reviewed based on availability ensuring that our office continues to serve the public
effectively though though these efforts will remain committed making I'm sorry these through these efforts we remain committed to making voter Services more visible and accessible while maximizing the use of our offices to benefit the
communities we serve I have two additions that I don't that you don't have on your sheet up there uh the PO and Place unit is actively preparing to reach out the polling place locations and conducting field work to to secure proof of residence in coordination with
the voter registration unit while consistently monitoring these s these sites in anticipation of the primary election the election board unit has made significant progress with the winter winter training program which kicked off on January
21st the election board training seminar schedule is posted on our website vote. phila.gov to date 9910 individuals have registered for the training with 736 already in attendance that's all I have
Commissioners thank you Jo uh Vice chair Dill do you have any questions I have none thank you secretary blue do you have any questions I have none thank you thank you Joe thank you we will now proceed to new business we will Begin by
considering our first agenda item a motion to approve City Commissioner's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for inclusion and mayor proposed budget pending city council approval is there a second second like sh Dill you have any
questions I have remarks on the motion please sure last year my staff and I worked to go through this the budget and we prepared detailed questions about actual concerns for this I was ignored criticized and steamrolled my questions
were cut short and the vote called and the budget passed now we look at our financial shape that we are in this year I'm not going to waste everyone's time but I'm not als I'm also not going to be involved in FSE and fake transparency
therefore I will abstain secretary blue you have any comments I have no comments Dad thank you uh just for the record every commissioner uh was uh invited to every meeting and also every commissioner
received a copy prior to this meeting please call the RO Vice chair de abstain I vote I chairman seir I motion passes we now move on to the
next item one second a motion to approve provisional ballot envelope redesign project is there a second second Commissioners do you have any comments on this item prefer receed
to vote Yes chairman please I'm not sure why this motion is needed and I do not like the precedent that it sets the staff does not need to wait for our formal vote to begin to pursue projects they should be free to conduct day-to-day work work and bring
us ideas and suggestions only when the time comes for a decision to be made would there need to be a vote when we changed the mail ballot envelopes in 2021 we voted on the redesign not to look into a redesign when we changed the mail ballot
envelopes again in 2024 we did not even have a vote I'm not against improving the provisional ballot envelope but I will weigh in when there is a design to consider consider if the staff chooses to to complete the redesign thank you secretary blin you
have any comments I have no comments to add well I like to say that U there's a lot of uh provisional ballots a lot of people make mistakes and unfortunately as a board we cannot count some mistakes that were
made from the provisional ballots so I'm excited about this process and uh I can't wait for the results secretary blue steam please call the rule Vice chair D
abstain I vote I chairman seir I motion passes this the last of our agenda item before we before we adjourn uh commissioner D did you have any business to be raise at this meeting yes Mr chairman thank you I do have something
to add today I will be submitting an interim policy resolution for the national ass Association of County's legislative conference the resolution calls on Congress to enact legislation ex exempting compensation paid to election day including primaries and
special elections Precinct election workers from federal income tax Social Security and Medicare if successful it will enable the National Association of counties to advocate for the tax exemption on Capitol Hill I would like to thank the bipartisan group of County
officials including chairman sair for joining me as co-sponsors of this resolution thank you thank you I'm proud to definitely support that commissioner blin you have any other business ra this meeting I just want to say go
birds i' like to Echo that uh before we adjourn uh nothing want to talk about Black History Month uh the legacy of black voting rights and activism black Americans have played crucial role in expanding voting rights
throughout the United States history activists like Fanny Lum harmer John Lewis Maga aest risk their life to secure voting rights for black citizens and not just African-American citizens but citizens all across America
as we see people who are disabled and language access was the result of the sacrifice of the civil rights movement and the last but certainly not least cannot forget tavius C who was assassinated 1871 in
Philadelphia because he was organizing African-Americans for their right to vote let's remember their legacy and African-American history month hear no other business a motion to adjourn today's meeting is there a
second secretary bluee please call to rule Vice chair d i I vote I chairman s i meeting a j