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How to cast a ballot in the 2022 general election
How to Vote By Mail
Philadelphians can request their mail-in or absentee ballots using this link.
Voters must submit their ballot applications to their county election board by Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. and return their ballots to the county election board, or another designated location, by Nov. 8 at 8 p.m.
The Philadelphia County Board of Elections is located in City Hall at 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Philadelphians can also return their ballot by mail or by visiting a drop-box location.
The closest drop-box locations to Main Campus are the Eastern State Penitentiary at 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Independence Branch Library at 18 South 7th Street, Shissler Rec Center at 1800 Blair Street and the Riverview Place Voter Registration Office at 520 North Columbus Boulevard.
Any voter can request a mail-in ballot, while voters with a disability or those who won’t be in their municipality on election day can request an absentee ballot, according to the Pennsylvania State Department’s Voting and Election Information page.
How to Vote In-Person
In Philadelphia, polls will be open on Nov. 8 from 7 a.m. and any voter standing in line by 8 p.m. will be able to cast a ballot.
Pennsylvania voters can use a search engine from Pennsylvania Department of State to find their nearest polling location.
Voters must be registered to vote by Oct 24. to be eligible to cast a ballot in the upcoming election. Voters can register online through Pennsylvania’s voter registration site. Temple also has a guide that includes information on how to register to vote, check registration status and what to expect for first-time voters.
Pennsylvania does not require voters to present identification to vote.
Here are the closest polling locations to Main Campus:
North Central Choice (PHA)
809 West Berks Street
Yorktown Arms
1300 West Jefferson Street
Bright Hope Baptist Church
1601 North 12th Street
Amos Recreation Center
1817 North 16th Street
Beckett Gardens Community Center
1410 North 16th Street
General George C. Meade Elementary School
1600 North 18th Street
Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Public School
1501 West Diamond Street
Midtown Parish United Methodist Church
718 West Norris Street
Penrose Recreation Center
1101 W Susquehanna Avenue
Candidates Guide
On Nov. 8, voters will go to the polls to cast their ballots for national and local positions in the general midterm elections.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) last term expires in early 2023, meaning there is no incumbent for the gubernatorial race.
The United States Senate seat, currently held by Pat Toomey, is open because Toomey decided not to run for reelection. This makes Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race extremely consequential, as whoever wins this race could impact the 50-50 split in the body, giving one of the parties a majority.
Here’s who you can expect to see on the ballot if you’re voting in the 2nd Congressional or 3rd Senatorial Districts that encompass Main Campus.
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U.S. Senate
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has served as the 34th lieutenant governor since 2019 and was the mayor of Braddock, located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2009 to 2015. As Mayor of Braddock, Fetterman pushed to lower the town’s crime and poverty rates.
Some of Fetterman’s top issues include creating more goods in the U.S., cutting taxes for working people, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, reducing out-of-pocket health care costs and ending price gouging, according to his campaign website. Fetterman is also running on criminal justice reform and cannabis legalization. Fetterman supports abortion rights, stating that if elected he will be the tie-breaking vote to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill in Congress that would protect abortion rights on the federal level.
Mehmet Oz (R) is known as the host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and is an author and retired cardiothoracic surgeon. He also taught at Columbia University until 2015.
Some of Oz’s top issues include growing the economy by combating inflation, overturning regulations on coal and natural gas production and distancing U.S. relations with China by creating more jobs and rebuilding a better supply chain.
Oz is pro-life, but he opposes penalizing patients or doctors for receiving or providing abortion care, POLITICO reported.
Erik Gerhardt (L) intends to pursue a freedom-forward foundation for a better tomorrow, according to his campaign website. When he was 16, he began working in construction and is an owner of ECG Carpentry, a carpentry business offering services to Pennsylvanians. Gerhardt will embrace the NAP, or Non-Aggression Principle, a common libertarian value which means that it is not in anyone’s right to initiate aggression against another.
His platform advocates for cutting taxes as much as possible, decriminalizing marijuana and other non-addictive drugs, legalizing abortion and presenting solutions to police reform like training recruits in jujitsu and community service.
Richard Weiss (G) is a lawyer from Allegheny County and ran for attorney general in 2020.
Weiss supports abortion rights, regulations on gun ownership and restorative criminal justice reforms to tackle crime, according to Greenslate2022. Weiss opposes fracking and supports a rapid transition to renewable energy. He also supports negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Daniel Wassmer (Keystone) is an attorney and college professor at Bucks County Community College. In 1989, he obtained his Juris Doctor from New York Law School.
Wassmer is in favor of pro-choice policies, environmental sustainability, anti-corruption and revision of the tax and revenue systems and pro-second amendment legislation.
Governor
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) is running for governor. Shapiro is from Abington, Pennsylvania, and served as a state representative from 2005 to 2011 in the state’s 153rd legislative district and as Montgomery County Commissioner from 2011 to 2017. Shapiro supports the right to an abortion, stating that he will veto any law restricting abortion rights.
Shapiro wants to protect clean drinking water and air. He supports expanding clean energy like nuclear and hydrogen power. He also plans to hold polluters accountable and wants to move forward Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act’s goal to get the Commonwealth to Net-Zero emissions by 2050.
Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano (R) is a U.S. Army Veteran and served from 1986 to 2017 before becoming state senator for the state’s 33rd senatorial district in 2019. Mastriano opposes the right to an abortion and would sign a Heart Beat Bill, state legislation that would ban all abortions after six weeks, WHYY reported. Mastriano believes abortions should legally be treated as murder, The New York Times reported.
Mastriano supports bans on Critical Race Theory and Gender Studies in Pennsylvania schools. Mastriano supports a parental rights statute which would provide parents more legal protections regarding opting children out of school curriculum they object to. Mastriano is also in favor of large-scale deregulation of the energy, mining and drilling industries and would end Gov. Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which commits states to reducing carbon emissions.
Christine DiGulio (Green) is a former analytical chemist for the U.S. Department of Defense and a Chester County resident.
She decided to run out of dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican Party’s campaign response to protecting Paragraph 27 of the State Constitution on Natural Resources and Public Estate, which establishes the right to clean air and water. DiGiulio supports equal access to clean air and water and opposes nuclear energy, according to a statement she made in an interview to Chris Robinson, leader of the Green Party of Pennsylvania, on the party’s website.
Matt Hackenburg (L) describes himself as a veteran against war and opposes government overreach and medical tyranny. Hackenberg is against COVID-19
masking requirements and lockdown measures because he believes they prevent individuals from making their own medical decisions.
Hackenburg served in the National Guard from 2012 to 2017 and said the guard is being abused by being sent overseas to fight in foreign wars. One of his biggest priorities is to implement a Defend the Guard policy, which would stop National Guard troops from being deployed without a formal declaration of war, according to his website. Hackenberg also opposes taxation and believes it is theft by the government.
Joe Soloski (Keystone) has worked as a public accountant since 1979. Soloski, who is from Centre County, served as a comptroller and a financial analyst in the construction, scientific instrument and public transport sectors. Soloski is running on reducing state spending by at least 5 percent each year he is in office because he believes the state is currently spending too much public money.
Soloski wants to decriminalize cannabis and would pardon state prisoners convicted of nonviolent drug offenses if he were elected. Soloski supports reducing property taxes, believing that the idea of property taxes is equivalent to renting from the government. Soloski will defend the rights of LGBTQ+ community members, according to his website.
U.S. House District 2
Brendan Boyle (D-Incumbent) lives in Northeast Philadelphia and has served the 2nd Congressional District of Philadelphia since 2019, which encompasses part of Center City, all of Northeast Philadelphia and all of North Philadelphia east of Broad Street, including most of Main Campus. Boyle signed a letter in 2020 to then–Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, urging the Department of Education to reassess the financial burdens of COVID-19 faced by college students and protect their right to affordable education.
Boyle is also a supporter of green initiatives, like the Build Back Better Act and the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, which provided funding for cleaner transportation methods. He also supports reproductive rights and is in favor of expanding access and funding to lung cancer screenings.
Aaron Bashir (R), is a resident of Philadelphia’s Castor Gardens and is a 2006 alumnus with a bachelor of business administration alumnus. Bashir is running on school choice, which allows students to access public education funds no matter what school they chose. He also wants to lower taxes and government spending and opposes abortion rights.
Bashir believes that taxpayers should not fund abortion. He also thinks taxes should support the natural gas sector to create jobs and support small businesses to provide products to constituent members.
U.S. House District 3
Dwight Evans (D-Incumbent) has represented Pennsylvania’s 3rd congressional district since 2019. Evans is a resident of the West Oak Lane and represents West Philadelphia and Parts of North, Center City and South Philadelphia.
Evans is in favor of additional housing in Philadelphia and hopes to replicate Boston’s Back Streets, a program that encouraged light industrial and commercial growth, to support the small, industrial businesses that surround cities and bolster communities. He plans to promote green initiatives in Philadelphia by expanding park accessibility and promoting the city’s parklet program, which encourages additional green spaces to be placed throughout the city.
Christopher Hoeppner (Socialist Workers Party) is running against Evans. Hoeppner is a freight rail conductor and a member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union. SWP campaigners collected more than 2,400 signatures to secure him a spot in the general election.
Hoeppner hopes to build a labor party and opposes racial and religious discrimination.
2022 General Election Philadelphia Ballot Measures
The Philadelphia ballot for the 2022 general election will give voters the chance to vote on two policies surrounding the creation of an aviation department and technical school graduate opportunities. They are “yes” or “no” questions that will become amendments to the city charter.
The city charter is Philadelphia’s equivalent to a constitution. It defines the structure and powers of the city while also allowing citizens to vote on various possible amendments to it.
Because these laws would change the charter, the City has to put these questions on the ballot, said Michael Sances, a political science professor.
“And typically, to amend those types of governing documents you need some type of voter approval,” Sances said.
When participating in a democracy, it’s a chance to have a real impact on how the city is run, Sances said.
Here are the questions that will be on the ballot.
Question #1
Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to provide for a preference in civil service examinations for qualified graduates of Career Technical Education programs in the School District of Philadelphia?
This question asks voters to decide whether or not graduates of technical schools should be given preference during their application process.
Most people aiming to work in civil service are required to take an examination during their application process. Test takers get automatic points if they are veterans or children and grandchildren of Philadelphia emergency responders who died during service.
There’s a shortage of workers because of the “Great Resignation”, so people are needed to fill these positions, Sances said.
The Great Resignation is the recent trend of people quitting their jobs, CNBC reported. This movement began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but remains ongoing.
Votes have a direct impact on how the city will operate, which is going to have a real effect on people’s lives in terms of whether they can get employment, Sances added.
Voting “yes” would mean giving tech school graduates a better chance at gaining employment in the civil service sector.
Question #2
Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Department of Aviation and to transfer certain functions related to operations of City airports from the other City agencies to the Department of Aviation?
This question asks voters to determine whether there should be a new Department of Aviation that will handle airport-operated functions, including decision-making, project efficiency and giving the department a notable seat during budget hearings. This is different to the current system where the airport reports to the Division of Aviation within the city’s Department of Commerce.
Voting “yes” to this question would mean creating a new Department of Aviation, and allow it to have more control over its operations.
Newly-appointed Philadelphia Airport CEO Atif Saeed will be one of the airport officials who are affected by this amendment because they will be given more discretion when managing airport functions.
The ballot proposal aims to make the management of local airports more efficient, Sances said.
Ultimately the City is giving voters the opportunity to participate in the amendment process. Voters will get to decide whether or not they want to adopt these new amendments rather than leaving it up to the city.
“We have this form of direct democracy here in the city where we are allowed to vote on certain policies that the city council thinks we should,” Sances said. “So these are things that came out of the city council, and they’ve decided to let us have a say about whether we want them to happen.”
Page design by Isabella Medina. Graphics and Photos by Allyson Tharpe, Earl Kufen and Erika Monn.
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