The numbers are in!

Have you ever wondered how the 2nd Ward performed in Philadelphia when compared to other Wards? How about your particular Division? Well, the official voter file is in and we’ve crunched the numbers.

Important notes:

All statistics have been rounded up or down. So, some numbers may appear to be a statistical dead heat.
All charts reflect registered Democrats.

So, let’s dive in…

% Turnout

We beat the City % turnout by about 17%. And compared to the last mid-term General, our voter turnout decreased by 3.5%, far less than that of Philadelphia. Check out the Leaderboard below for where we finished City-wide.

% Turnout Leaderboard

We came in 3rd in the City, less than 3% away from the 15th Ward in 2nd place, which maintains our momentum. (Please note the Open Wards shown in green. What’s an Open Ward?)

2nd Ward and City Turnout History

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Turnout History - Democrats

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election City Turnout History - Democrats

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Percent Turnout History - Democrats

Philadelphia 2022 General Election Percent Turnout History - Democrats

Both the 2nd Ward and City continue their histories of increasing both raw votes and percent voter turnout. (2020 was a significant outlier, but it shows what we can do!)

% and Raw Turnout compared to average of GN17 through GN21

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2017-2022 General Election Percent Turnout - Democrats

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2017-2022 General Election Turnout - Democrats

The City increased 7.4% compared to the average of Generals 2017-2021. The 2nd Ward showed a 12.5% increase.

In terms of raw voter turnout, the City showed a 26% increase compared to a 41% increase by the 2nd Ward over this period. (The City lost 5% raw turnout over the 2018 General while the 2nd Ward increased 16%.)

One thing to keep in mind about the average General turnout of 2017-2021 is that 2020 was a year of historically high voter turnout. That tended to skew the statistics up. But, even with 2020, both the City and the 2nd Ward are exceeding those averages.

Turnout Voting Method

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Turnout by Voting Method - Democrats

This shows the raw number of votes cast per Ward broken into Mail, At Polls, Absentee, and Provisional. The 2nd Ward essentially matched the City in terms of voting method.

Turnout Voting Method comparison GN21 to GN22

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2021-2022 General Election Turnout by Percent Voting Method - Democrats

It looks like voting by mail has become less popular as pandemic concerns are easing.

% voted early

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Percent Early Voting - Democrats

Voted early means:

Mail-in voting, Civilian overseas, Absentee
Any voting method other than At Polls (AP)

% Mail-in Ballots spoiled

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Spoiled Ballots - Democrats

Spoiling a mail-in ballot means bringing it to the polls and voting in person, possibly even provisionally. But, despite the name, spoiled ballots are not a bad thing, per se. It may mean that the voter forgot to mail their ballot on time, and since drop boxes have decreased in number, that person decided to bring their ballot to the polls. (We’d much rather have a spoiled ballot than no vote at all!) Overall, the number of spoiled ballots have dropped dramatically in both the City and 2nd Ward.

% Mail-in Ballots Unreturned

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022 General Election Unreturned Mail Ballots - Democrats

(This was corrected by subtracting the number of mail-in ballots that were spoiled.) The 2nd Ward was nearly tied for 4th place, within .7% of Ward 9, in 1st place. We beat the City average by 6.4%. Overall, maybe because there were fewer mail ballots requested, there was a (large) drop in those that went unreturned.