Trump's Federal Election Push Tests Philadelphia's Local Control

Philadelphia election officials are preparing ballots and equipment after more than 12 million votes have been cast nationwide, including more than 65,000 in the city. President Donald Trump has renewed calls for federal involvement in elections. Pennsylvania law bars officials from starting mail-ballot processing until Election Day morning, while Trump’s March executive order sought to restrict mail-ballot delivery and direct investigations of election officials.

Who Runs the Count

Three elected Philadelphia City Commissioners—two Democrats and a Republican—run elections in Pennsylvania's largest city. Their staff assembled materials for 1,700 precincts in a Northeast Philadelphia warehouse: poll books, rule books, posters and pens. Lisa Deeley, a Philadelphia City Commissioner, called the packages “election activity boxes.”

Deeley said the commissioners' work is “more as nonpartisan than bipartisan,” describing their role as “to be umpires, to call balls and strikes.” Seth Bluestein, a Republican Philadelphia City Commissioner, said, “Running elections in Philadelphia doesn't require democratic values or Republican values. It requires American values.”

Pennsylvania law prevents officials from beginning the pre-canvass until polls open at 7:00 a.m. on Election Day. They can't review the outer envelopes, open them or prepare ballots for counting beforehand. Each mail ballot sits sealed inside two envelopes.

In 2020, processing about 375,000 mail ballots in Philadelphia involved more than a million pieces of paper, and counting continued until the Saturday after Election Day. Officials hope to finish counting the ballots covered in the report by midday Wednesday. The ballots are being mailed back, and officials will keep them in a locked cage until processing begins.

Deeley said, “We will never sacrifice accuracy for speed, and we never have. And since 2020, we have only gotten better.”

Federal Pressure and Local Law

Trump has singled out Philadelphia in every campaign since he was a candidate in 2016. After the 2020 election, as the city's mail-ballot count cut into his lead in Pennsylvania, he called Philadelphia and Detroit “two of the most corrupt political places anywhere in our country.” Bluestein said he and Deeley received death threats and harassment. Deeley said she had to leave her home and live in a hotel during the global pandemic, while protesters gathered on both sides at the Convention Center.

On Election Day 2024, Trump posted that there was “massive cheating” in Philadelphia. City officials said there were no substantive fraud complaints. The report said Philadelphia had a handful of prosecuted fraud cases, with the largest involving about four dozen votes, and no widespread documented fraud in a presidential general election.

Trump has continued to claim without evidence that mail-in voting is rife with fraud and has pushed for federal legislation to overhaul elections. He said, “Cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It's horrible what's gone on.” The Supreme Court blocked the March executive order from taking effect for the midterms. It would have restricted whom the Postal Service could deliver mail ballots to and directed the attorney general to investigate and potentially prosecute state and local officials who issue ballots to ineligible people.

Bluestein said, “We have the receipts to show that there's not massive cheating in Philadelphia elections, quite literally.” Deeley called mail voting “safe” and “trusted.”

Poll Workers and Election Security

The president and his administration sent mixed messages about whether federal agents would be sent to polling places on Election Day. Bluestein said Pennsylvania law doesn't allow officers or federal agents within 100 feet of polling places, and he didn't foresee that happening in Philadelphia. He said the city had worked with its law department on a plan for possible problems, including federal involvement.

Philadelphia had 7,200 poll workers signed up, below its goal of 8,000. Training prepares workers for Election Day, which begins at 6:00 a.m. and can run past 9:00 p.m. Shanna Fields, who oversees poll worker training for the Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, said, “We really need willing participants who really will care about democracy and care about the work that we do.”

Hundreds of voting machines stood ready for delivery. They have no Internet connection; officials transfer counts by secure compact discs to another computer for public release. After the count, officials audit the results and begin preparing for the next election. The dispute over federal authority continues alongside that locally administered process.