Title
Amending Title 21 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled, "MISCELLANEOUS," by adding a new Chapter 21-3100, entitled "VOTING MACHINE LANGUAGES REQUIREMENT;" all under certain terms and conditions.
Body
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Legislative Findings:
(1) On February 20, 2019, the City of Philadelphia Board of Elections approved Election Systems and Software, LLC's "Express Vote XL" voting machines for use in Philadelphia elections pursuant to the Pennsylvania Election Code.
(2) Subsequently, the City of Philadelphia Procurement Department entered into Contract 196400 with Election Systems and Software, LLC, to purchase new voting machines for use in the City of Philadelphia elections.
(3) That procurement was to satisfy Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Westerman Wolf's mandate that Pennsylvania counties select new voting systems that provide a voter verifiable paper record and meet 21st-Century standards of security, auditability, and accessibility, no later than December 31, 2019, and preferably by the 2019 General Election.
(4) While the Express Vote XL voting machines were selected to meet Governor Wolf's requirements, those voting machines also have the happy capacity to be programable in sixteen languages.
(5) Over 21% of speakers in Philadelphia (308,605) speak a language other than English at home, while nearly 10% of speakers in Philadelphia (138,697) speak English less than "very well." There are at least 71 languages spoken in Philadelphia:
Table 131. Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over for Philadelphia County, PA: 2009-2013
Release Date: October 2015
Number of speakers1
Percentage of Number of Speakers
Speak English less than "Very Well"1
Percentage of Number of Speakers
.Population 5 years and over
1,432,316
100.00%
138,697
9.68%
Speak...
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