Philadelphia is "Special"

[Dreadnaught]

Some may remember my rants years ago about how voting in Philadelphia always seemed...off.

Someone used the recent Pennsylvania elections to take it further and investigate. Interesting photos of Philadelphia's, err, "unique" polling places:

http://www.philadelphiapollingplaceproject.com/

[Ominous Gamer]

unique cause they all aren't inside churches?

good for philly

[Dreadnaught]

Actually, they are in churches. And mosques. And bars. And Italian-American social clubs. And private residences. And auto repair shops.

[Ominous Gamer]

Actually, they are in churches. And mosques.

I could have swore that one was at a Ford dealership...
How do I get into that congregation?

[Ominous Gamer]

You added with an edit, which only reinforces why the last thing you want to call this unique polling practice is "off".
This should be how all polling is done. Easiest to reach, not nearest church.

Unless you're trying to lead into a stolen election, hacked ballots angle...

[GGT]

My sick 'lil computer can't open the pics Why aren't their polls in fire halls and schools? (That sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke.)

Philly charities will also get $10 million bucks from soda companies if they agree to vote down the soda tax. So I hear.

[Dreadnaught]

You added with an edit, which only reinforces why the last thing you want to call this unique polling practice is "off".
This should be how all polling is done. Easiest to reach, not nearest chruch.

Unless you're trying to lead into a stolen election, hacked ballots angle...

Why is voting in a church so horrible, but voting in a mosque isn't.

[Ominous Gamer]

I've never been forced to vote in a mosque. In fact, I didn't say a damn thing about a mosque

[RandBlade]

My local polling station is a Tennis Centre, most here are in schools. Inside any easily located and neutral public centre seems a good idea.

[Catgrrl]

What a pain in the ass, one poll booth at each place? Geez, I'm sure Philly is much bigger than my town, and we use schools or large churches as our polling places. Several booths at each. I would think it a real pain to have to set up one small booth in hundreds of spots.
But is that because of how Philly is structured? Here we have large neighborhoods so going to a church or school that is central to that neighborhood is no big deal, so maybe that's the difference?
(Also I'd wonder why you'd use a private business for voting purposes; it would seem to be harder to make sure that all voting rules are being followed?)

[Dreadnaught]

I've never been forced to vote in a mosque. In fact, I didn't say a damn thing about a mosque

Well, in Philly you might. And they put tape on the floors so that your infidel shoes don't touch the rugs (though admittedly it's a no-shoes mosque on any day).

What a pain in the ass, one poll booth at each place? Geez, I'm sure Philly is much bigger than my town, and we use schools or large churches as our polling places. Several booths at each. I would think it a real pain to have to set up one small booth in hundreds of spots.
But is that because of how Philly is structured? Here we have large neighborhoods so going to a church or school that is central to that neighborhood is no big deal, so maybe that's the difference?
(Also I'd wonder why you'd use a private business for voting purposes; it would seem to be harder to make sure that all voting rules are being followed?)

Philly has a lot of election wards, more than they have polling places. But given Philly politics, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the places get some kind of fee for hosting the polling places. And the distribution of polling places (with fees) has the requisite corruption.

[']['ear]

Dread, you're not stating your thesis very clearly. What exactly are you saying?

[Dreadnaught]

That Philadelphia is unprofessional, disorganized and corrupt. And hilarious and charming.

[oldmunchkin]

OMG When I read the thread title, all I could think of was The Friend getting lost in Philly this weekend and telling me just how "special" Philly was!
OT: Here in BFE, ALL the polling places are churches. What's wrong with that?

[Nessus]

Here in BFE, ALL the polling places are churches. What's wrong with that?

They're representations of the degenerate filth and reality-denial colloquially known as "religion"

[LittleFuzzy]

They're representations of the degenerate filth and reality-denial colloquially known as "religion"

The problem with polling places in schools around here *K-12, not college* is that, you know, they're in use. The gyms are used most of the school day, the classrooms are all actively used *overused, often enough, lots and lots of places have overcrowding as a result of infrastructure not keeping pace with population growth* the cafeterias can't be used because you do need the space during lunch and you can't really close a polling location down during lunch hours, since lots of people vote then. . .

Churches, OTOH, tend of have underutilized space during the work-week.

[Nessus]

In Godless Europe, election day itself is always on a Sunday (or has been as long as I remember), so the school buildings are empty. And everyone can vote in advance for like two weeks before the proper day in a couple places, usually the post office or somesuch.

Of course our population density is vastly smaller than yours, but ostensibly you have a correspondingly higher school density!

[Steely Glint]

We always vote on a Thursday in general elections here. I don't know about voting in churchs, there normally old buildings so you'd have to rearrange the pews and stuff, which would cause offense to God (or something). I've always voted in some kind of village hall, though schools and leisure centers are are also used.

[Flixy]

In Godless Europe, election day itself is always on a Sunday (or has been as long as I remember), so the school buildings are empty. And everyone can vote in advance for like two weeks before the proper day in a couple places, usually the post office or somesuch.

Of course our population density is vastly smaller than yours, but ostensibly you have a correspondingly higher school density!

Ours are on wednesdays, usually.

I checked out list of voting locations, it has city hall, schools, red cross buildings, a theater, care centers, community buildings, youth centers, places like that. No churches.

[']['ear]

Fuzzy is correct. Schools are not polling places because elections are almost always on weekdays, and seldom in summer , when school is out.

In Godless Europe, election day itself is always on a Sunday (or has been as long as I remember), so the school buildings are empty. And everyone can vote in advance for like two weeks before the proper day in a couple places, usually the post office or somesuch.

Of course our population density is vastly smaller than yours, but ostensibly you have a correspondingly higher school density!

Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn't it? Or, if the puritans are too fussy, we could do it on Saturday.

Don't want poor hourly workers voting, though.

[littlelolligagged]

Schools are closed on election days here. Even primaries (not run-offs, but they make sure that the voters can't get anywhere near where students are).

Schools and churches are both used as polling places.

My kids school is closer to me than the church that is where I must vote.

[Hazir]

Ours are on wednesdays, usually.

I checked out list of voting locations, it has city hall, schools, red cross buildings, a theater, care centers, community buildings, youth centers, places like that. No churches.

I've never seen one in a church either. I also don't think we've ever voted on another day than wednesday during my voting-life. I won't do my own voting this june, I'll do the voting-by-proxy thing, which reminds me that I'll have to make a copy of my ID.

[LittleFuzzy]

In Godless Europe, election day itself is always on a Sunday (or has been as long as I remember), so the school buildings are empty. And everyone can vote in advance for like two weeks before the proper day in a couple places, usually the post office or somesuch.

Of course our population density is vastly smaller than yours, but ostensibly you have a correspondingly higher school density!

If our elections were held on Sundays, you could be sure there'd be a lot more polling places in schools, and less in churches. But for whatever reason, Congress set elections to be on the first Tuesday of November.

[earthJoker]

I usually either go to the Gemeindehaus (something like the townhouse I suppose) or vote per letter. They once made a polling station during a party(disco not political) in Zürich, but I think you just put in your letter there too.

[Ziggy Stardust]

We always have to vote in a home for the elderly.

The old folk are happy as smurfs to have some excitement come into their offspring abandoned life.

[EyeKhan]

We always have to vote in a home for the elderly.

The old folk are happy as smurfs to have some excitement come into their offspring abandoned life.

That's so fuckin' sad.