In Philadelphia, election workers keep busy amid heavy turnout

PHILADELPHIA – Walking up and down Broad Street here on Election Day, there was no shortage of Philadelphians sporting the “I voted” sticker. 

Danie Greenwell, judge of elections at Philadelphia’s Land Title Building in the city’s 8th Ward, said  that she has seen the largest number of in-person voters today since 2019, because in 2020 most individuals who voted sent in mail-in ballots. 

“We had a line of about 20 people at 7 a.m. which was the only line outside the building we have had all day so people were just excited to come out and vote,” Greenwell told the Capital-Star. 

“Outside the building they have changed a lot of our signage to have multiple languages including Chinese and Spanish to make it easier and more inclusive for everyone,” Greenwell said.

“When we check people in, they will sign a book. What the ballot reconciliation does is make sure that someone did not both sign into the book today and send in a mail-in ballot,” Greenwell added. “So if I know someone had already sent in a mail-in ballot by what the book says, then I will either have them vote provisionally or they will have to surrender their mail-in ballot.” 

“We have a lot of Election Protection coalition people volunteering in the city today, which is nice for us because they will help if there are any problems because it seems like a lot of people are paying attention to this election,” Greenwell concluded. 

Anna Stillman, a University of Pennsylvania law student, and an Election Protection volunteer, was working at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts on Broad Street.

“It does not seem like there are long lines, I have been working outside, and there has been a steady and calm flow of people,” Stillman told the Capital-Star. “My job as a non-partisan volunteer is to make sure that nothing seems fishy. But I have not seen anything unusual happen today. Most of my time has been spent answering questions and making sure people are at the right polling place.”