City Commissioners

ABOUT THE OFFICE – City Commissioner

The Philadelphia City Commissioners are a three-member bipartisan board of independently elected officials in charge of voter registration and elections for the City of Philadelphia. The Commissioners set and enforce departmental policies to administer voter registration and conduct elections in accordance with federal and state voter registration and election laws.

Each Commissioner is independently elected to serve a four-year term that coincides with the municipal election cycle for Mayor and City Council. To ensure the Board of Commissioners is bipartisan, no political party may hold more than 2 of the 3 seats on the Board. For the last half-century the 2 majority party seats have been held by Democrats, and the guaranteed minority seat has been won and held by the Republican Party.

Along with the County Board of Elections, the City Commissioners produce a number of reports and data including:

  • The Citizen’s Handbook, a useful tool for civic participation, which includes contact information for all public officials representing citizens in Philadelphia County, as well as voter registration statistics and political district maps.
  • Election resources such as information on:
    • Voting,
    • Working at the polls,
    • Running for office,
    • Current and past election results, and
    • Election board training materials.