Philly’s guide to the May 20 primary election

The next election is right around the corner. Are you ready?

This time, on May 20, registered voters across Pennsylvania will head to the polls to cast their ballots for a number of municipal and judicial races. In Philadelphia, voters should expect to find the following races on their ballot: district attorney, city controller, judges for Superior and Commonwealth Courts, as well as Common Pleas Court and Municipal Court, along with three ballot questions.

Races for your local judge of election and inspector of election will also be on the ballot, though details on these positions are not included in this guide. To find out more, you can view your sample ballot on the Philadelphia city commissioners’ website here.

Since Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, keep in mind you will be able to vote only for candidates affiliated with your registered party. Party affiliation will not matter for the ballot questions.

Candidates who win their party’s nomination in May will then appear on November’s ballot.

Here is what you need to know ahead of this year’s primary election, from important dates to who’s on your ballot:

📅 Pennsylvania’s primary election is on Tuesday, May 20. The deadline to register to vote in the primary is May 5.

🧑 Yes. Pennsylvania is one of 14 states that hold a “closed primary,” which means voters must be registered with a political party to vote in that party’s primary election.

Voters who are unaffiliated or registered with a third party can still vote on any ballot questions.

🕖 Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Voters in line by 8 p.m. will still be allowed to vote — don’t leave.

🗳️ 📍 Polling place locations are available through the Pennsylvania Department of State’s “Find Your Polling Place” tool at pavoterservices.pa.gov. Philadelphia voters can also use the city’s locator at atlas.phila.gov/voting.

🗳️ Pennsylvania residents who are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old can register to vote in state elections.

In primary elections, only voters registered with a political party may vote for that party’s candidates. However, all registered voters — regardless of party affiliation — can vote on ballot questions, if any appear on the ballot.

To vote in the primary election, a person must be:

Yes. Most Pennsylvanians with felony convictions are eligible to vote.

Eligible voters include:

❌ The only restriction: People currently incarcerated for a felony conviction are not eligible to vote during their incarceration.

Most voters do not need to bring anything to vote.

However, ID is required for first-time voters at a polling place. Both photo and non-photo ID are accepted.

Accepted photo ID includes:

Accepted non-photo ID includes:

✉️ Mail ballot applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13. Applications can be submitted in three ways:

✉️ 📅 Completed mail ballots must be received by the county election office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20. Postmarks do not count.

There are two return options:

❓ Voters can check the status of their ballot with the Pennsylvania Department of State’s “Election Ballot Status” tool at pavoterservices.pa.gov.

While Pennsylvania does not have traditional “early voting” procedures, it does allow voters to “vote early” by simply applying for and completing a mail ballot at your county’s election offices.

In Philadelphia, this can be done at:

This option is available through 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, the deadline to request a mail ballot for the primary election.

Assistance is available from multiple official and nonpartisan sources:

Accessibility: All polling places in Pennsylvania offer at least one accessible voting system for voters with disabilities.

Language assistance: The following counties provide voting materials and language assistance in Spanish:

Philadelphia County also provides written materials in Traditional Chinese. Bilingual interpreters are also available through the commissioners’ office.

⏳ Complete results may not be available on election night. While most in-person votes are counted on May 20, mail ballots typically require additional time to process. Final tallies may take several days to complete, depending on the volume and processing pace in each county.

The Philadelphia district attorney is the city’s top prosecutor, spearheading the fourth-largest criminal justice system in the United States. The district attorney oversees an office of more than 600 lawyers, detectives, and support staff, according to the office’s website.

Democrat:

Patrick Dugan

» READ MORE: Patrick Dugan wants to cap his military and judicial career by becoming Philly’s top prosecutor. Can he win?

Larry Krasner

» READ MORE: DA Larry Krasner says Philly is ‘safer and freer’ as he seeks a third term. Will voters buy in?

Republican:

There are no Republican candidates running for the district attorney’s office in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia city controller operates independently of the mayor and City Council and acts as a fiscal watchdog, conducting audits and investigations into the city’s and the Philadelphia School District’s programs and financial affairs to ensure proper and effective use of city resources. The office is not subject to term limits.

Democrat:

Christy Brady

Republican:

Ari Patrinos

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is one of two statewide races on Philadelphians’ ballot. The other is the race for Commonwealth Court. The two make up Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts.

The Superior Court is made up of 15 judges who oversee appeals in criminal and most civil cases coming from lower courts before they can be taken to the state Supreme Court. The opening on the court comes after Democrat Dan McCaffery’s election to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to Spotlight PA, which has also put together a handy guide to races on both Commonwealth and Superior Courts that you can find here.

» READ MORE: A complete guide to candidates for Commonwealth and Superior Courts

Democrat:

Republican:

Commonwealth Court is one of two statewide races on Philadelphians’ ballot. The other is the race for the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The two make up Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts.

Commonwealth Court is made up of nine judges who are responsible for cases involving state and local governments as well as regulatory agencies. The opening on the court comes after Ellen Ceisler, elected as a Democrat, retired earlier this year, according to Spotlight PA, which has also put together a handy guide to races on both Commonwealth and Superior Courts that you can find here.

» READ MORE: A complete guide to candidates for Commonwealth and Superior Courts

Democrat:

Republican:

Common Pleas Court, broken up by 60 judicial districts throughout Pennsylvania, serves as a general trial court handling civil and criminal cases as well as appeals from lower courts.

Philadelphia voters can choose up to nine candidates.

Democrat:

Mail ballot voters will also see Mike Huff appear as a candidate on their ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Huff ineligible to run in the primary after mail ballots were printed.

Republican:

There are no Republican candidates.

Philadelphia Municipal Court, made up of 27 judges, is the city’s entry-level court handling minor civil, criminal, and traffic cases. Philadelphia voters will cast ballots for no more than three candidates.

Democrat:

Mail ballot voters will also see Mike Huff appear as a candidate on their ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Huff ineligible to run in the primary after mail ballots were printed.

Republican:

There are no Republican candidates.

Voters will decide on three ballot questions during this year’s primary.

Question 1:

Context: Homelessness in Philadelphia rose for the third straight year in 2024, when more than 5,000 Philadelphians experienced homelessness, according to the annual point-in-time count conducted by the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services. While that is still a lower figure than pre-pandemic levels, the number of unsheltered individuals — those not in a homeless shelter or transitional housing — surged by nearly 40% from the previous year, the office found.

The city’s homeless services office provides resources aimed at assisting those individuals, from emergency shelters to linking residents with free meals and rapid rehousing programs.

Homelessness advocates, however, would like to see that office held accountable, with the goal of better services, improved spending, and resolved complaints.

City Council approved legislation last year to establish the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services ombudsperson, an individual who would act as an independent inspector for the office, investigating grievances on residents’ behalf and advocating for those whom the system may overlook.

If a homeless person complained about physical conditions within a city shelter, for example, the ombudsperson would have the authority to independently investigate that concern on the person’s behalf. Other major cities like New York, Washington, and San Diego have created similar positions to address their own homelessness challenges.

Should voters enshrine the role into Philadelphia’s charter, the ombudsperson would have the authority to advocate not only for homeless individuals, but for their family members, too, and would provide recommendations to the Philadelphia Managing Director’s Office. In addition, the ombudsperson would have the power to subpoena testimony over the course of its investigations.

If passed:

Question 2:

Context: Since the creation of the Housing Trust Fund in 2005, the initiative has helped address the housing needs of thousands of low-income Philadelphians through the creation of new, affordable housing units, payments for critical home repairs, adaptive property modifications for those with disabilities, eviction prevention, and programs designed to prevent homelessness.

In 2018, the city added another tool to addresses affordability: Under the mixed-income housing program, building developers can bypass local zoning restrictions to increase the density of their new housing projects if they either construct additional, price-restricted affordable housing units or make “payments in lieu” of affordable housing to the city.

While those payments are supposed to go toward affordable housing programs, they are also nonbinding and technically can be used elsewhere; only a portion have made it to the Housing Trust Fund. Instead, city officials devote a fixed percentage of the general fund (at least 0.5%) to support the Housing Trust Fund each year.

Affordable housing advocates would like to see a change. They say that more of those developer payments should be used for affordable housing, and that depending on how many projects are constructed in a given year, the sum raised from new projects can surpass the city’s contribution.

City Council voted last year to approve changes to the City Charter that, if enacted by ballot measure, would require that 100% of payments in lieu of affordable housing be appropriated to the Housing Trust Fund.

Budget officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration opposed the idea. They say the city doesn’t need another fixed cost that could divert funding away from other priorities like public education and violence prevention, and estimate that the decision could cost the city around $25 million over the next five years.

If passed:

Question 3:

Context: Philadelphia’s prison system has long been the subject of myriad complaints, and advocates have spoken out about poor conditions in jail cells, overcrowding, high-profile escapes, and a chronic shortage of corrections officers that has exacerbated those issues.

Oversight is conducted by the Philadelphia Prison Advisory Board, a seven-person body that is maintained under the city’s department of prisons. The board, like the prison system itself, has become a target of criticism in recent years, and former members say that the group meets infrequently, out of the public eye, and without full independence from the department it is meant to keep in check.

City Council members are looking to change that. A proposal passed late last year approves the creation of a Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and a Philadelphia Office of Prison Oversight, putting the initiative up for a ballot measure vote.

Advocates say the new board would be required to hold monthly meetings and provide recommendations to the prison oversight office and the prisons department on policy and best practices.

The companion organization, the Philadelphia Office of Prison Oversight, would work to increase transparency within the prisons department by monitoring facilities, maintaining access to databases and documents, meeting with staff and incarcerated individuals, and developing community education programs.

The office would be housed under the Philadelphia Office of Public Safety in order to maintain independence from the prisons department. The goal is for increased transparency and accountability, advocates say, with consistent meetings, public participation, and minutes made available online — as well as oversight by City Council itself.

If passed: