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 percent turnout by about 18%. And compared to the last comparable Primary in 2019, our voter turnout increased by 11.1%, about 2.5x that of Philadelphia. Check out the Leaderboard below for where we finished city-wide.

% Turnout Leaderboard

We came in 4th in the City, only 2% 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 2023 Primary Election Percent Turnout History - Democrats

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2023 Primary Election Turnout History - Democrats

Philadelphia 2023 Primary Election Turnout History - Democrats

The 2nd Ward had our highest Primary voter turnout – even beating 2016 and 2020! This helps maintain our effort to increase both raw votes and percent voter turnout. The city is showing a slight decline in both of these metrics.

% and Raw Turnout compared to average of Primaries 2017 through 2022

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2016-2023 Primary Election Percent Turnout - Democrats

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2016-2023 Primary Election Turnout - Democrats

The city increased 3.4% in percent voter turnout compared to the average of Primaries 2016-2022. The 2nd Ward showed a 7.9% increase.

In terms of raw voter turnout, the city showed a 14.5% increase compared to a 31.8% increase by the 2nd Ward over this period. (The city saw a 23.3% raw turnout increase over the 2019 Primary while the 2nd Ward increased 47.5%.)

Turnout Voting Method

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2023 Primary Election Turnout by Percent 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 to last Primary

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2022-2023 Primary Election Turnout by Percent Voting Method - Democrats

It looks like voting by mail is becoming less popular as the pandemic wanes.

% voted early

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2023 Primary 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 2023 Primary 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 stabilized in both the city and 2nd Ward.

% Mail-in Ballots Unreturned

Philadelphia 2nd Ward 2023 Primary 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 5th place. We beat the city average by 2.4%.