Philadelphia's 2-minute guide to Tuesday's primary
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Get ready to vote.
Why it matters: The winners of Tuesday's primaries move on to the November election.
Driving the news: Philadelphia voters will see Democratic and Republican primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, Congress, state House and Senate, and party committee people, along with two ballot questions.
Worth noting: Pennsylvania has closed primaries.
- That means only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in their party's primary.
- Yes, but: Independents can vote on Philly's ballot questions.
1 big race to watch: The Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District.
- This high-profile, expensive race features a quartet of candidates vying to replace U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, who is not seeking reelection.
- State of play: No clear front-runner has emerged among the leading candidates — state Sen. Sharif Street, Ala Stanford and state Rep. Chris Rabb.
- The winner of the primary will likely go on to win in November in the deeply blue district. No Republican candidate is running.
Meanwhile, most other candidates are running unopposed in their primaries.
What they're saying: Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the independent watchdog group Committee of Seventy, tells Axios that she's watching the races for state party committee people on Tuesday.
- They are the foot soldiers of each party — helping to turn out the vote, recruiting poll workers — and will be critical to their party's success in the November election.
- Another thing to watch: Turnout for Stacy Garrity — who is running unopposed in the Republican gubernatorial primary — to gauge the enthusiasm for her campaign. She's poised to take on Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro later this year.
🗳️ In-person voting: Polls are open from 7am–8pm on Tuesday.
- Voters new to their voting division must show identification, like a driver's license or current utility bill.
- Find your polling place.
✉️ Voting by mail: Voters can submit their mail-in ballots at election offices or official drop boxes.
- They must be received by 8pm Tuesday.
- Check the status of your mail-in ballot on the state's website.
By the numbers: Roughly 85,900 Philly voters requested mail-in and absentee ballots for the primary — with the vast majority being Democrats, according to data on the state's website.
- As of last Friday, nearly 50,000 ballots have been returned.
Threat level: Around 600 mail-in and absentee ballots are at risk of getting tossed due to flaws, such as when voters' identification cannot be verified, per the city commissioner's website.
- See if you're on the list.
- Those voters can request a replacement ballot at a city election office or use a provisional ballot at their polling place on Election Day. Issues involving identification can also be corrected online.
See something, say something: Report election complaints on the state's website or call 1-877-868-3772.
The bottom line: There's still time to make a plan to vote.
