What is a ward?

For voting purposes, the city of Philadelphia is broken down into 66 wards, and each ward is further broken down into somewhere between 11 and 51 divisions. Most wards have around 25 divisions, and there are supposed to be between 500-1,200 registered voters in each division. Each division is assigned a polling place.

Your division determines where you vote, but the political parties also mobilize this ward map for politics. They do this by using the geography of wards and divisions as the framework for a system of grassroots politics.

Each division is capable of electing two party representatives: the Committeepeople. The Committeepeople in every ward then elect their Ward Leader. And finally, the ward leaders elect the Chairs of their respective City Committees.*

What is the difference between a closed ward and an open ward?

In closed wards, committee people generally do not have a say in the endorsement process and the ward leader decides on their own, or with a small group within the ward, which candidates will be supported. Sometimes in these circumstances, the reasons for picking one candidate over another may be unrelated to the caliber of the candidates and might instead be a function of which candidate will provide the most money to the ward. (Wards do incur election-related costs, including the printing campaign literature and paying committee people for their efforts; however, there are numerous past examples of candidates’ contributions not going toward legitimate expenses.). Wards with closed endorsement processes do not have agreed-upon bylaws or any other written procedures for how to conduct ward business.

In open wards, all candidates are provided an equal opportunity to make their case to the committee people, and the ward’s endorsement is made following a vote guided by a clear, written process. Furthermore, committee people who don’t support the ward’s endorsed candidates are provided with a reasonable way to support their own candidates. That might mean, for example, that committee people in an open ward provide literature that has both the ward’s endorsements and their own endorsements, so the voters in that division have access to both recommendations. Wards with open endorsement processes generally agreed-upon governing procedures (e.g. bylaws) to ensure transparency and democratic decision making amongst the committee people who make up the ward.**

How do I know what ward I live in?

By visiting the Pennsylvania Department of State website:

https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

You can find out your Ward and Division and Polling location by looking up your Voter Registration status. When you visit the above webpage you will need: your Full Name, County of Residence, Zip Code, and Date of Birth.

After inputting the information, and clicking search for the results the PA Department of State will provide you with your: Ward, Division, Polling Location, Congressional District, State Senate District, and State Representative District numbers.

The City of Philadelphia Commissioners’ Office also provides a similar service using this website: https://atlas.phila.gov/

Once on this page, you insert your address into the search bar above the map and hit enter. Once you see the results, scroll down the left hand side of the results webpage and click on the VOTING bar. It will give you your: Ward number, Division number, City Council District number and Council Person, as well as your polling location.

There is other helpful city specific data linked to your residence on this page so it is worth checking out!

How do I know what division I live in?

By visiting the Pennsylvania Department of State website:

https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

You can find out your Ward and Division and Polling location by looking up your Voter Registration status. When you visit the above webpage you will need: your Full Name, County of Residence, Zip Code, and Date of Birth.

After inputting the information, and clicking search for the results the PA Department of State will provide you with your: Ward, Division, Polling Location, Congressional District, State Senate District, and State Representative District numbers.

The City of Philadelphia Commissioners’ Office also provides a similar service using this website: https://atlas.phila.gov/

Once on this page, you insert your address into the search bar above the map and hit enter. Once you see the results, scroll down the left hand side of the results webpage and click on the VOTING bar. It will give you your: Ward number, Division number, City Council District number and Council Person, as well as your polling location.

There is other helpful city specific data linked to your residence on this page so it is worth checking out!

Where do I vote?

By visiting the Pennsylvania Department of State website:

https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx

You can find out your Ward and Division and Polling location by looking up your Voter Registration status. When you visit the above webpage you will need: your Full Name, County of Residence, Zip Code, and Date of Birth.

After inputting the information, and clicking search for the results the PA Department of State will provide you with your: Ward, Division, Polling Location, Congressional District, State Senate District, and State Representative District numbers.

The City of Philadelphia Commissioners’ Office also provides a similar service using this website: https://atlas.phila.gov/

Once on this page, you insert your address into the search bar above the map and hit enter. Once you see the results, scroll down the left hand side of the results webpage and click on the VOTING bar. It will give you your: Ward number, Division number, City Council District number and Council Person, as well as your polling location.

There is other helpful city specific data linked to your residence on this page so it is worth checking out!

Who are my Committee People?

No matter which site you go to in order to look up your Ward and Division, it is also good to find the map of your Ward and Division provided by the City Commissioners office. (That is this search tool https://atlas.phila.gov/)

The City does not make looking up your Committee Person very easy. You definitely need your Ward and Division number first. When you have that in hand here are your next steps:

• Visit https://vote.phila.gov/

• Put your mouse over Resources and Data

• Click “Past Election Results”

  • You will want to access the “2022 Primary Election Results” since Committee People are elected in Primaries.

    • NOTE: Most recent Committee People were just elected in May of 2022 and serve four year terms. The next Committee Person election will be in May of 2026.

• On the Past Election Results page, click “Download Member of the Ward Executive Committee Results”

• Once downloaded you can open an excel file that will have every committee person listed on it, both Democrat and Republican.

  • Go to the PRECINCT column and look for your Ward which will be the first number and your Division which will be the second number. E.g Ward 39 Division 1 will be listed as 39-1, Ward 39 Division 2 will be listed as 39-2, etc.

  • Just be sure you are getting the names associated with your political party

*Source, Philadelphia 3.0: ​​https://www.phila3-0.org/ward_elections_faq

**Source, Open Wards Philadelphia: https://www.openwardsphilly.com/open-wards-101