Councilman Jones Jr. heads to the polls

Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who is running unopposed for his second term in the 4th District as a Democrat, arrived at Pinn Memorial Baptist Church promptly at 7 a.m. on Primary Day to cast his vote.

Jones was the fourth person to vote at the church, located at 54th Street and Wynnefield Avenue, on Tuesday morning, which he said “has got to be good luck.” 

Before entering the booth, Jones registered to vote with poll workers Aparicio Giddins and Jewel Barnettier, who confirmed that the Democratic Councilman would be voting in the Democratic primary.

There were some issues with the machines when they were first switched on this morning. Some voters may have forgotten to hit the final button in order to actually cast their ballot after they had chosen who they were voting for.

Morgan Cephas, Public Affairs Coordinator for Curtis Jones Jr., informed Jones’ staff of a problem with the machines.

“Apparently when you hit Jewell Williams’ name, it goes to a different candidate.” Jones and his wife both had to wait inside their booths as workers attempted to work out the bugs in the machines.

Across the district, the Jones campaign has over 200 people working at about 100 different polling places. Each worker is being paid to work from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., with breaks given to allow the workers to get back to their neighborhoods so they can also vote.

Outside the entrance to the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church, Shetara Richardson, 18, and Jay Johnson, 51, handed out a pamphlet printed by the Jones campaign.

The mock ballot, called the “Winning the Future Ballot” lists all the people running that Jones supports.

Johnson plans to vote there later today, and recognizes many of the citizens entering the building as his friends and neighbors. This is his first time working on an election day, so he follows Richardson’s lead.

Richardson worked at the church on a previous election day and knows the ropes.

However, the 18-year-old, who is about to graduate from the Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School, did not register to vote in time, and has never voted in an election before. 

“If I can’t vote I’ll encourage other people to,” Richardson said.