City Commissioner Lisa Deeley is encouraging all Philadelphians to “vote down the ballot” in an effort to curb the city’s undervoting problem.
Undervoting, or skipping a contest on the ballot — or in the case of multi-candidate contests, selecting less choices than the maximum allowed — is a major problem in Philadelphia, according to the City Commissioners Office.
“A lot of people focus on getting out the vote, but we have people showing up to vote and not fully exercising their franchise,” said Deeley. “We need to focus on increasing participation, showing up to vote and voting in each and every electoral contest.
“Philadelphia’s low participation is diminishing our impact on statewide elections and minimizing voters’ voices in local and legislative contests,” she added. “The low hanging fruit to increase participation is to educate voters, who are already showing up, to complete their ballots and vote in every contest.”
In 2020, nearly 38,000 Philadelphia voters skipped the Attorney General’s race, and more than 45,000 skipped the Auditor General contest. There were over 41,500 voters who skipped the Pennsylvania Treasurer’s race, a statewide contest that was decided by just 52,546 votes.
There were also close to 50,000 Philadelphians who did not cast a vote for United States Congress and over 101,000 did not vote for their state representative.
“I believe the issue is the lack of civics education, people are not sure what these offices do and how they affect their lives,” said Deeley. “Many do not know the difference between the US Senate and the Pennsylvania State Senate. My hope is that through increased education, we can increase participation.”
Deeley’s office has produced civics education materials to illustrate the separation of powers in a simplistic manner. The materials are available in English, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese. There are also videos explaining the offices that are on the ballot this year and how they effect voters’ lives.
For more information on this year’s election, call 215-686-VOTE visit vote.phila.gov
