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Be an informed voter

You have five days left to vote.

Do your research and be sure to know what you’re voting for. Here’s a place to start:

  • A person holds out an "I Voted" sticker after voting with a voter guide on election day.
The Citizen Voter Guide: PA General Election 2020
Election Day is officially November 3—but now is the time to get ready to vote. Here, everything you need to know to cast a ballot

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Voting this fall

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Guest Commentary: Want to Boost Voter Turnout?
A legendary UArts professor of innovation says the advent of the secret ballot fueled voter apathy

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There are many ways to cast a ballot for this important election. Philly 3.0’s engagement editor has a regularly updated breakdown on how best to vote now.
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Out of the Mouth of Babes
#VoteThatJawn and Fresh Artists tap an army of kiddos to turn out the parent vote
  • Voters line up outside a satellite election office in South Philadelphia
Guest Commentary: Are the polls making the same mistake all over again?
A veteran political consultant warns that by not adjusting for new pandemic voting patterns, pollsters may be missing worrisome drop-offs in Black and Latino voting

  • Two women drop their ballots in the mailbox before Election Day 2020
5 things we know about early voting in Philly
There are still 18 days left until Election Day, but here’s a sneak preview of how things are faring so far

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Speed Up the Vote Count
Philadelphia 3.0’s director of engagement makes a compelling call for election efficiency

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Get Ready to Start Voting in 2020
The City announced the first seven satellite election offices will open on September 29. Philly 3.0’s engagement director has the latest on what we know about voting in the upcoming election.

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Better Civics: The Real Truth About Voter Apathy
It’s not that people don’t care, the founders of a new civic engagement nonprofit contend. It’s that our electoral system continuously puts up barriers to voting. Here’s what we all can do about it

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Voting Drop Boxes Live!
A Thursday night state Supreme Court ruling protects voting rights heading into the November election. Philly 3.0’s engagement director explains why that matters.

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Power The Polls
The city needs to recruit another 4,000 people to work the polls on November 5. Here’s why it matters — and some ways we can prevent this last minute scramble in the future

  • A person holds out an "I Voted" sticker after voting with a voter guide on election day.
The Citizen Voter Guide: PA General Election 2020
Election Day is officially November 3—but now is the time to get ready to vote. Here, everything you need to know to cast a ballot

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Philly’s Doomsday Election Night Scenario
A longtime political mad genius has an answer to Trump’s challenge to the legitimacy of November’s election. Oh yeah, and he just got out of prison.

Guest Commentary

Stupidest Ballot Question. Ever.

A Republican ward leader weighs in on Tuesday’s ballot question No. 1, a charter amendment that calls on the PPD to eliminate unconstitutional stop and frisk

Guest Commentary

Stupidest Ballot Question. Ever.

A Republican ward leader weighs in on Tuesday’s ballot question No. 1, a charter amendment that calls on the PPD to eliminate unconstitutional stop and frisk

BY Matt Wolfe

Oct. 29, 2020

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Ballot question No. 1 reads as follows:

Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to call on the Police Department to eliminate the practice of unconstitutional stop and frisk, consistent with judicial precedent, meaning an officer must have reasonable suspicion that a person is engaged in criminal activity in order to stop that person, and, therefore, an officer cannot stop someone unlawfully because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religious affiliation or expression, or other protected characteristic?

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I mean, who could be against this?

Well, first of all, note that it calls on the PPD to eliminate the practice of “unconstitutional” stop and frisk.

Unconstitutional?

If it’s already unconstitutional, why would we need to eliminate it? Isn’t it already illegal? Of course it is. This is totally unnecessary and simple pandering by City Council.

Related from The Philadelphia Citizen:
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Why I Plan to Vote No on Ballot Question No. 2
Another view on ballot question No. 2, the proposal to create the Office of the Victim Advocate

Let’s read further.

The ballot question layers on the stupid. The elimination of the unconstitutional stop and frisk is calculated to make certain that an officer cannot stop someone “unlawfully” because of their race, gender, sexuality, religious affiliation or expression. Again, police already cannot stop anyone unlawfully because well …it’s not lawful.

We’re not done yet. Read the language again. It “amends” the charter to “call on” the Police Department to do all this unnecessary stuff.

“Calling on” someone to do something is a lot different than making a law that requires that they do something. What’s this all about? Wouldn’t you expect that an amendment to the city charter would be a law rather than a guideline?

Check Out the Other Ballot Questions
Study up on the other three ballot questions that you’ll be voting on this election season in our voter guide to the general election.

Well, the Home Rule Charter has a section, specifically Article VIII, Chapter 5, titled Referenda Approved by the Voters. Understand that Pennsylvania does not permit non-binding referenda to appear on the ballot so, if challenged, these non-binding referenda themselves would probably be found to be illegal.

Do SomethingNevertheless, our City Council clutters up the charter with matters that have nothing to do with the structure of our government—which is the purpose of the charter—and do not have the force of law.

For example, not long ago there was a ballot question that said that Philadelphians wanted to institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage, cloaked as providing for a “decent, living wage.”

While the question itself did state that we “call upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to raise the Pennsylvania minimum wage,” I’m guessing that most voters thought that by voting “yes” on that question that they were passing a law to raise the minimum wage.

Have you noticed that the minimum wage is not $15 per hour? Well, that’s because the entire concept of a non-binding referendum is deceptive. But it gave members of City Council a chance to go to people who care about that issue and say, “Look what I did for you!” Which was, as usual, nothing.

One of the dumber changes to the charter was the one in 2007 that said that the city urged the United States to redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Seriously? What does that have to do with city government and why is it in the city charter?

One of the dumber changes to the charter was the one in 2007 that said that the City urged the United States to redeploy our troops out of Iraq. Seriously? What does that have to do with city government and why is it in the city charter?

What is sad is that this ballot question will pass. Almost all of these questions get overwhelmingly “yes” votes, no matter how bad they are for the city’s future.

This one isn’t necessarily bad for the city’s future. It’s just stupid.

Don’t be afraid. Being against this ballot question does not mean that you are for anything that is unconstitutional or unlawful. Don’t vote for stupid. Vote “no” on Ballot Question No. 1, no matter how good it sounds.

Matt Wolfe is a Republican ward leader in West Philadelphia. He can be reached at [email protected].

It’s election season in Philadelphia. Are you all set to vote?

Header photo by Element5 Digital / Unsplash

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