Young Philly activists joust with city over posting election results

The local activist group Young Philly Politics is taking the City Commissioners' office to task for not posting detailed election returns online.

Putting such information online is standard practice in many counties throughout the country. But when the group first requested the information be put online last month, the city office that oversees elections said that while hard copies of results are available free, access to an online database comes with a fee. The online database, Deputy City Commissioner Fred Voigt said in a letter to the group, can only accommodate about 150 paying users.

"...we are unable to accommodate you at this time," he wrote.

Now, the group has appealed that decision.

"We believe the decision is incorrect under Pennsylvania's right-to-know law and the Commissioners' own mission statement," Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg wrote in a letter appealing the decision today.

"For an office that has only one real job, overseeing elections, and a generous budget, we find this response lacking and inconsistent with PA right-to-know law," he added.

Reached by PolitickerPA.com this afternoon, Voigt declined to comment.