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April 1, 2020


Dear Vote Protectors,

On March 27, Governor Wolf quickly signed Act 12 of 2020 into law, postponing our 2020 primary until June 2. POVPhilly is very pleased Pa. postponed our primary election and expanded voting by mail. Both of these were absolutely necessary during this time of crisis.

However, Act 12 was rushed into law with a number of really big problems that need to be fixed. Most notably: 
  • Act 12 allows commissioners to move and combine polling locations for the upcoming primary with NO OVERSIGHT. In Philly, that means Lisa Deeley, Al Schmidt, and Omar Sabir can move our polling places anywhere they want, and we can’t even push back. Research shows such “temporary” changes often become permanent.
  • Act 12 allows votes to be counted before polls close. Through a new “pre-canvassing” process, our commissioners are allowed to actually count early votes, rather than just open and sort envelopes as most states allow. So, critical vote count info can be leaked out to favored campaigns.
  • Act 12 eliminates safeguards, including those that prevent ballot-box stuffing. These are the very safeguards the Department of State ignored when certifying/recertifying the ExpressVote XL. They are also key complaints in NEDC v Boockvar, asking for the machine’s decertification.
  • Act 12 does nothing to improve chain of custody of ballots, a common and well documented problem already in Philly and one only likely to get worse with widespread mail-in voting. 
  • Act 12 does not require ballot-counting procedures that the public can verify. A public count is essential for public trust in the outcome.
These problems impact the whole state, but especially Philadelphia because our ExpressVote XL voting machine makes it harder to accurately and safely combine polling locations. Luckily, we can fix these problems! Read more about the problems with Act 12—and the solutions. Then call your representatives and ask them to secure our votes! 
 

TAKE ACTION! 

Ask the Governor and your legislators to fix Act 12 NOW!


Call or write your legislators and let them know that we need the following changes to fix Act 12 right away!
  • Mailed, written notice for polling place changes, and a workable appeals process for problematic relocations.
  • Hand-marked paper ballot voting available at all polling locations
  • No vote counting before polls close
  • Secure method for tracking ballot inventory
  • Clear rules for chain of custody on all ballots, whether voted at polls or by mail
  • Clear rules for processing and counting of ballots so public can observe and verify the process looked fair and accurate.
You can share the longer POVPhilly statement on this using the short link: bit.ly/2ymEOPz
 
Your State Representatives, Find your representatives
Governor Tom Wolf: Phone & email info / Facebook

Want to do more? See our Take Action page


About POVPhilly



Protect Our Vote Philly is a coalition working to bring accurate, accessible, and secure voting systems at a fair cost to Philadelphia. We believe the gold standard for election integrity is:
  • hand-marked paper ballots
    so we know our votes are cast as intended
  • the best possible accessibility devices
    so every voter can vote with maximum privacy and independence
  • mandatory risk-limiting audits after every election
    so we can be confident that every vote was counted as cast.
Protect Our Vote Philly is a watchdog over the Office of the City Commissioners, which operates elections in the City of Philadelphia. Because we believe Philadelphians have a right to the most secure voting system possible, we strongly oppose the system that the Commissioners selected, the ES&S ExpressVote XL, as well as the rushed and secretive process used to select it. The ExpressVote XL falls far short of the gold standard. It endangers our votes and wastes our resources. We are dedicated to replacing it.
 

LEARN MORE  • TAKE ACTION#StopTheMachine

 

 

 

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