Committee Statement on Voting by Mail

The Nether Providence Democratic Committee recommends that if you requested a mail-in ballot, you use it as soon as possible. In the midst of a pandemic with new voting equipment, poll workers will have many new procedures this Election Day. Spoiling ballots at the precinct on Election Day will take time, lengthen waits and lead to more uncertainty on Election Day. Voting by mail is safe, secure and will be counted if submitted correctly (instructions here).

You can drop off your ballot off at the Voter Service Centers:

  • Media Voter Service Center, Government Center Building, 201 Front St, Media

  • Chester Voter Service Center, Chester City Hall, 1 E. 4th St., Chester

  • Upper Darby Voter Service Center, DelCo Dept. of Human Services, 20 S 69th St, 4th Floor, Upper Darby

or you can return it to a drop box (starting Tuesday, Oct. 20th). An interactive map of the locations is available here. The nearest locations to Nether Providence are the boxes at Furness Library, Hedgerow Theater or the Swarthmore Municipal Building. Or, if returning your ballot by mail, please do so as soon as possible to insure it arrives in time.

PA Supreme Court overturns Congressional Maps

Dear Nether Providence Democrats:

Map of current PA gerrymander

Map of current PA gerrymander

By now, I am sure most of you are aware that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled today in the case brought by the League of Women Voters that the the Congressional District map adopted by the PA legislature violates the Pennsylvania Constitution.  The state Supreme Court has ordered that the congressional districts be redrawn in time for the May primary.  The new map must be in place by February 9.  That should allow petitions to circulate as planned, but a delay would not surprise me.  The Republican leadership in the Pennsylvania legislature has also promised to seek a stay from the US Supreme Court.  Because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court expressly stated that it was rendering its decision under the state constitution, it will be hard for the Republicans to articulate a federal basis for staying their decision but this is politics.  I expect to hear more about the petition process and the status of the appeal on or before the County Democratic Committee's leader's meeting on Wednesday and will report back.  If the maps are redrawn, I expect that Nether Providence will move back to the 7th Congressional District.  Stay tuned.

Text of the ruling can be found here.  

Running for Committee

In this year's primary every precinct in Pennsylvania will elect two local committee members.  What do these committee members do?  According to the Delaware County Democratic Committee's bylaws, they:

1) elect the chair of the county and local parties in reorganization meetings after the election.  These positions are important because they control almost everything the party does.
2) participate in committee meetings such as ones where we vote on endorsements
3) register more Democrats
4) circulate and file nominating petitions to get Democrats on the ballot
5) recruit candidates for local offices
6) organize political activity, such as canvassing, phone banking, holding events, staffing the polls on election day, etc.

For Democrats to win, we need committee members that will connect with their neighbors, both keeping them informed and listening to their concerns.  We need people that will help us with fundraising and canvassing.  We need people that will show up on election day to greet their neighbors as they vote or staff the polls so the precincts are open and elections are conducted properly.  Being a committee person means you get a say in how the party is run and which candidates are endorsed, but we also need people that will show up to help get the work done.

If you’re interested in running for committee, either contact the chair, Christine Reuther or email us at npdemscom@gmail.com .  To run for committee, you'll need to get at least 10 signatures (25 or more is recommended) on a nominating petition from registered Democrats in your precinct.  While committee members gather signatures to get on the ballot they can also collect signatures for other Democrats running - especially Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky this year.  Petitions start Feb 13 and run through March 6th.  Petitions will be available to pick up and sign at February's meeting, so please bring all the registered Democrats you can to our February meeting.

In many precincts, we have more than two Democrats that would be great committee members.  After the election, the chair has the ability to appoint 26 at-large committee members.  These have slightly less voting rights at the county level, but we will be appointing hardworking Democrats to these positions after the election in May.  Even if you don’t want to run now, let us know you're interested in being appointed.