An Election Day Guide

Election Day is here and this year's races include competitions for mayor, City Council at-large, sheriff, city commissioner and register of wills. Voters will also select judges for state Commonwealth Court, state Superior Court, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia Municipal Court and Philadelphia Traffic Court. There are also various judges up for retention votes (judges, once elected, come up for such votes every 10 years).

Need to know where to vote? Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Two ballot questions—one that has to do with a city charter amendment, the other that has to do with a bond issue—will also be presented to voters.

Here's a breakdown of who's running (information courtesy Committee of Seventy; you can find a full breakdown on this election's procedures on its website):

Mayor (vote for one): Michael Nutter (Democrat), Karen Brown (Republican), Wali "Diop" Rahman (Independent).

City Council at-Large (vote for five; top seven vote getters win seats, but only five of those seven can come from one party): Bill Green, William Greenlee, W. Wilson Goode Jr., James Kenney, Blondell Reynolds Brown (Democrats); Joe McColgan, David Oh, Dennis O'Brien, Al Taubenberger, Michael Untermeyer (Republicans); Richard Johnson (Independent).

City Commissioner (vote for two; top three vote getters win seats, but only two of those three can come from one party): Anthony Clark, Stephanie Singer (Democrats); Joseph Duda, Al Schmidt (Republicans).

Sheriff (vote for one): Jewell Williams (Democrat); Joshua West (Republican); Cheri Honkala (Green).

Register of Wills (vote for one): Ronald Donatucci (Democrat); Linda Bateman (Republican).

Ballot questions (answer yes or no): 1. Shall The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to provide for a mandatory Budget Stabilization Reserve, more commonly known as a “rainy day fund,” and to provide for restrictions on deposits to and withdrawals from such Reserve?
2. Should the City of Philadelphia borrow ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN MILLION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($111,295,000.00) to be spent for and toward capital purposes as follows: Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development?

For full information on judicial elections, click here for a sample ballot.