On April 22nd the Lawyers’ Committee and principle Pennsylvania coalition partner the Committee of Seventy were on the ground with over 800 volunteers, mostly stationed in Philadelphia, and received over 1,000 calls, making this the largest single state Election Protection Primary program.

The comprehensive program was a success by taking advantage of the combined strengths of the Lawyers’ Committee and the Committee of Seventy. The relationship between these organizations is spearheaded by Lawyers’ Committee board member John E. McKeever, a partner at DLA Piper, who also serves on the Board of Directors for the Committee of Seventy. Election Protection’s Coalition partner Congreso de Latino Unidos, in conjunction with other members of the Coalition, fielded the 1-866- OUR-VOTE Spanish language calls, helping to ensure Pennsylvania’s Latino and Spanish voters were able to cast a meaningful ballot during the primary. The Election Protection partnership produced the largest number of voter reports for any single state primary.

Voter turnout once again led to overwhelmed poll workers and long lines - over 3.8 million voters cast ballots in Pennsylvania’s primary. As in the other primaries covered by Election Protection, the high turnout exposed many of the fundamental problems that plague the election administration system throughout the state. The sources of problems faced by voters in other states - untrained poll workers, voting machine malfunctions, and problems with the voter rolls - caused many of the obstacles Pennsylvanians faced at the polls.

One of the most troubling issues was a barrage of reports from voters who have been registered as Democrats for years, but were forced to vote provisionally because they were listed as unaffiliated so were prevented from casting a ballot in Pennsylvania’s closed primary. When this problem surfaced early in the day, the Coalition took action by alerting the county Boards of Election to the issue and releasing a statement to the media advising voters who encountered this problem to vote provisionally.

Issues reported to the 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline included:

  • A number of callers were confused and upset by sample ballots that seemed official, but only showed one presidential candidate.
  • A voter entered her polling place and asked to be shown how to push the button for her candidate. The poll worker told the voter she was supporting a competitor and said she hoped the voter would adhere to her request.
  • Election protection received a call from a voter who reported that the voting machines at her location were set for Republicans only. She told the poll worker that she was a Democrat and the worker replied, "Not today." The voter insisted that she had always voted at that location as a Democrat, but the poll worker simply said "Oh well." The caller was unable to vote.
  • At one location, a sample ballot provided by the city was displayed next to the polling machine. A volunteer for a particular candidate had marked this sample ballot in favor of his candidate. This defaced sample ballot remained on display into the afternoon.
  • Election Protection received multiple reports of privacy issues - in one location, polling booths were exposed with the machine screens in plain sight of poll workers.
  • Disability access was also an issue in Pennsylvania. One woman reported that her mother was unable to access the polling place which was down stairs - the poll workers refused to provide her with a provisional ballot. Another caller reported that she was not allowed assistance from her husband despite being blind. The situation was mismanaged and the caller felt publicly embarrassed.
  • One voter called to report that, contrary to Pennsylvania law, a poll worker refused to allow her child to accompany her to the voting machine. When she asked the poll worker why her son was not allowed, the poll worker told her it was because her son "can read."

Press

Election Protection Press Releases:

Early Polling Issue Reported In Green Tree KDKA (April 22, 2008)

Your job today: Vote knowledgeably Philly.com, Philadelphia Daily News (April 22, 2008)

Different Election Protection Initiatives In Place ELECTIONUNSPUN.ORG (April 22, 2008)

Machine, registration problems in Pa. primary elections Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer (April 22, 2008)

Primary election proves relatively trouble-free Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer (April 23, 2008)

Suggestions from a Bucks County, Pa Judge of Elections and Voting Activists OpEdNews.com (April 21, 2008)