Voting is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
It’s how we as citizens express our preferences and hold elected officials accountable.
To become a voter you must register. Are you at least 18 years old, an American citizen and Pennsylvania resident or recently moved? Do you want to vote in person or by mail? Do you know who your elected officials are or who your precinct representative is? Answers to these questions and more can be found here.
Voter Registration
In the United States in order to be eligible to vote you must be registered. In order to register you must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Pennsylvania at least 30 days before the next election. In Philadelphia you must register with a local address with a complete application submitted to Philadelphia County Board of Elections or Satellite Election Office three weeks before election day.
How to Vote
Pennsylvania offers three options to cast your vote. You can vote in person on Election Day at your assigned polling station or at a Satellite Election Office prior to Election Day. Or you can vote by mail with the ballot hand delivered by post to the Board of Elections, or you can deliver it to a drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day. You can register and vote in one visit to a Satellite Election Office.
Find Your Elected Officials
Every resident is represented by 22 elected officials: 11 on the local level, 6 on the State level and 5 on the Federal Level each accountable to you with different responsibilities. Find out who your elected officials are and how to contact them here.
Find Your Ward
Philadelphia is divided into 66 wards, each of which is divided into from 11 to 51 divisions – 1,703 in all. Party ward leaders (Democrats and Republicans) are elected by each party’s committee people. There are two Committee people elected for each party for each Division by registered voters in your neighborhood every four years. The job of committee people is to register voters and get out the vote.
Your involvement at this level can be the most effective. Use this resource to find your Ward and Division and contact us at Mt. Airy Democrats with this information to get involved.