Election Day is tomorrow in Pennsylvania! Deciding who to vote for can feel overwhelming, especially when there are nine at-large city council candidates in Philadelphia and dozens of judges to choose from. But if you haven’t even started your research yet, don’t panic! We put together this step-by-step guide to help streamline the process.
Find your polling place 🔍
First thing’s first: use the state’s lookup tool to find your polling place. Write down your precinct number so you know where to check in when you get there, as polling places often combine precincts. If you’re voting by mail, you can skip this step, of course.
See who’s on your ballot 🗳️
The Committee of Seventy has an interactive voter guide you can use to see who and what is on the ballot for your specific precinct if you live in Philadelphia or any of the suburban collar counties. (Alternatively, you can view a sample ballot through your county election office.) As you click through Committee of Seventy’s interactive guide, you can read about each of the offices and brief bios for the candidates. Helpfully, it also shows whether the judges on the ballot have been recommended by the bar association. When you’ve made a decision, you can add your picks to a mock ballot to print or email to yourself.
Do your research 🧑💻
You may want to dig a little deeper on the candidates’ backgrounds before you decide who’s getting your vote. Fortunately, several local news outlets create voter guides that compile impartial information about the candidates and offices on the ballot.
- Billy Penn’s “procrastinator’s guide” conveniently combines all of the races and candidates in Philadelphia on a single web page.
- The Inquirer’s voters guide is another good source for the major Philly races.
- Spotlight PA provides an in-depth look at the statewide judicial races on the ballot (Supreme Court, Commonwealth Court, and Superior Court), and explains judicial retention votes.
Go vote! ☑️
One final note: if you’ve recently moved and are voting in your polling place for the first time, don’t forget to bring a valid form of identification. And be sure to grab a fun “I voted” sticker on the way out.
