PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Right now, Philadelphia has lined up 689 polling places for its 1,700 polling divisions. City Commissioner Omar Sabir would like to get that above 700 ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5.
“Private polling locations are essential to the city’s electoral infrastructure providing vital access points for voters in every division,” he said.
Commissioners have raised the rental fee the city pays for hosting a polling place to $150. That’s up from the previous rental fee of $110 set in 2018. The fee is also per division, so locations where two or three divisions can fit on the property, it could double or triple the payment.
Sabir said the desired expansion of in-person locations is so voters will be less prone to make errors as can happen with mail-in ballots.
“People are making mistakes with the vote-by-mail ballots. It’s less likely for people to make mistakes if they’re voting …