Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the creation of a fact-finding team to explore issues that arose in connection with the November 6 General Election with the goal of making recommendations that will strengthen the election system in the City of Philadelphia. On Election Day the Mayor acknowledged that many Philadelphians confronted serious issues as they voted in polling places across the city and that he wanted to engage in a fact-finding effort about those issues. As a result, the Mayor assembled a team of Administration and community officials to work with the cooperation of the City Commissioners to review the voting system in Philadelphia.

1. City of
Philadelphia
MAYOR'S OFFICE OF
COMMUNICATIONS
Michael A. Nutter, Mayor
Mark McDonald, Press Secretary
Office: 215-686-6210
Cell: 267-303-9248
Friday, December 7, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYOR NUTTER ANNOUNCES FACT-FINDING
TEAM FOCUSED ON ELECTION PROCESS
Philadelphia, December 7, 2012 - Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the creation of a fact-
finding team to explore issues that arose in connection with the November 6 General Election
with the goal of making recommendations that will strengthen the election system in the City of
Philadelphia.
On Election Day the Mayor acknowledged that many Philadelphians confronted serious issues as
they voted in polling places across the city and that he wanted to engage in a fact-finding effort
about those issues. As a result, the Mayor assembled a team of Administration and community
officials to work with the cooperation of the City Commissioners to review the voting system in
Philadelphia. The team, led by Deputy Mayor and Managing Director Rich Negrin, will identify
the problems and potential solutions to the variety of issues identified on – and leading up to –
Election Day.
Members of the fact-finding team are the following:
- Rich Negrin, Deputy Mayor for Administration & Coordination and Managing
Director,
- Jordan Schwartz, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Mayor,
- Terry Gillen, Director of Federal Relations,

2. - Hope Caldwell, Chief Deputy Integrity Officer,
- Nicole Harrington, Investigator, Office of the Inspector General,
- And Kevin Johnson, Pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church.
“On Election Day, there were reports questioning the integrity of the voter registration lists, the
supply of provisional ballots, and the preparedness of some poll workers to address new state
voter laws,” said Mayor Nutter. “Some of these issues may be legitimate, and some may be
unfounded. The confusion clouded what should have been an exciting, smoothly run election.
“I have a problem with that because Philadelphia is the birthplace of our Nation: the home of
freedom, liberty and democracy. As Mayor, I want the most efficient, honest and informative
elections operation in the country. We need to use public resources to strengthen the cause of
democracy. We should aspire to having the most educated, well-informed voting public casting
ballots in record numbers for each election.
“Despite the issues that arose on November 6, I want to thank the employees of the City
Commissioners Office for their hard work that day which allowed hundreds of thousands of
Philadelphians to cast their votes. I also want to thank the City Commissioners for issuing their
post-election report on the events and processes surrounding the election, and for pledging their
full cooperation as the fact-finding team analyzes the report’s findings and addresses other
questions in more detail.”
The fact-finding team will focus on areas of interest that include but are not limited to: accuracy
and integrity of voter rolls; voter registration process and system; technological interaction
between state and City voter databases; production of the Voter Registration Book; provisional
ballot use, supply and delivery; poll worker training; Election Day communication and
coordination.
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