The letter responds to concerns about Philadelphia's voter registration backlog by outlining the process used to address backlogs. It notes that extra employees from other city departments are being brought in to supplement the data entry staff and that experienced employees are working extended hours. It provides voter registration numbers from the last three presidential elections for context and assures that all valid, complete registration forms will be processed by Election Day.

1. Mr. Zack Stalberg
President and CEO
Committee of Seventy
8 Penn Center
1628 JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19103
October 12, 2012
Dear Mr. Stalberg,
We thank you for sharing your concerns in your letter of October 11, 2012.
Every eligible Philadelphian who submitted a valid, complete voter registration form by the deadline of
October 9, 2012, will be registered to vote and will be listed in the poll books on Election Day, November
6, 2012. To each Philadelphian who submitted an incomplete or otherwise invalid voter registration
form, and whose registration form contained a valid postal address, we will send out a notice by United
States Postal Service no later than Friday, October 26th.
The Voter Registration Division of the City Commissioners makes every effort to help potential voters
whose applications are in some way defective, or who submit their registrations to the wrong county.
Wherever possible, we go the extra mile to enfranchise eligible citizens as quickly as possible.
Ultimately, however, the responsibility lies with the voter to provide a complete and valid voter
registration form to the correct county by the statutory deadline.
As you noted, we currently have a backlog of application forms to be processed. Such a backlog is not
unusual at the registration deadline, especially in a Presidential election year. We have a process for
harnessing extra manpower in response to such backlogs. The timeline for implementation this year is as
follows:
1. As of September 4, 2012, we extended work hours for our employees to 7:30pm, adding 2.5
hours for each employee each day
2. As of September 9, 2012, we extended work hours for our employees to 10pm, adding another
2.5 hours for each employee each day
3. We are in the process of arranging for experienced employees from other City departments to
supplement our data entry staff.
While we appreciate your willingness (and ability!) to mobilize volunteers to help, it is not appropriate to
entrust mission-critical work to volunteers. The process described above is neither new nor ad hoc. We
have used it in past years to process similarly large backlogs with success. To get context for the
backlog, please compare this year's numbers to the previous two Presidential election years:
Year Total # of registration forms # registration forms submitted on last day
2004 252K 21K
2008 300K 33K
2012 200K 24K
Thank you for the attention Committee of Seventy pays to elections in Philadelphia. We appreciate your
staff's questions at meetings of the City Commissioners and the service you do for Philadelphians by

2. communicating the community's concerns to us and accurate information from us out to the
community.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Singer, City Commissioner, Chair
Anthony Clark, City Commissioner
Al Schmidt, City Commissioner
cc: Mayor Michael A. Nutter, City of Philadelphia
City Council President Darrell Clarke
City Controller Alan Butkovitz