Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Last month, the city commissioners certified the results of 2026\u2019s primary election \u2014 another safe, secure, and accurate election, one whose results Philadelphians can trust.<\/p>\n
But those results highlighted an obvious flaw: Most of our neighbors didn\u2019t show up to vote.<\/p>\n
The 2026 primary turnout numbers tell a story of silence in which there should be a vibrant force of civic engagement:<\/p>\n
Turnout citywide was just 22.3% \u2014 a drop from four years ago, whose 23.6% turnout was already nothing to brag about.<\/p>\n
When you don\u2019t include the three top-performing wards \u2014 the vaunted 9th, 22nd, and 50th Wards, which comprise the Northwest corner of the city \u2014 the citywide average drops even further, to just 20.4%.<\/p>\n
Ward 7 saw the lowest turnout in the entire city, with fewer than 6.5% of registered voters casting a ballot.<\/p>\n
There are always logistical hurdles to voting, including language barriers, childcare, and rigid work hours, and my office at the Philadelphia City Commissioners works tirelessly every day to tear those barriers down. We\u2019ve made progress, but clearly, there\u2019s still work for all of us to do.<\/p>\n
If everything in your neighborhood, your school, your block is exactly how you want it, fine, sit this one out.<\/p>\n
If not, there are a few things you can do \u2014 and you don\u2019t need to wait until November.<\/p>\n
This month marks the kickoff of \u201cBetween the Ballots: No Days Off for Democracy<\/a>,\u201d a citywide outreach initiative designed to bring voter education, election services, poll worker recruitment, and civic engagement opportunities directly into Philadelphia neighborhoods during the summer. The next event in the series will take place on Tuesday at the 3rd District satellite office at 4029 Market St., and will include food, family fun, community resources, and more.<\/p>\n We made significant strides when we opened satellite election offices in every City Council district in the city, and now we\u2019re giving everyday Philadelphians even more reasons to engage with those offices any time of the year, not just when there are votes to cast.<\/p>\n Philadelphia has lots of ways to get involved. Our Election Academy, which launched this past spring<\/a> in partnership with the nonprofit Committee of Seventy, invited registered voters from every corner of the city into our satellite election offices and our Northeast election warehouse to see exactly how voting machines are secured, tested, and audited. No taking our word for it. You can watch it happen. The program was a great success, so much so that we will continue these public sessions through the fall.<\/p>\n