Stephanie Singer joined Marty Moss-Coane to talk about elections and the new voter photo ID law on this morning's Radio Times.

LIsten here.

By Jan Ransom, Philadelphia Daily News

City Commissioners asked City Council Monday for more money to give a raise to poll workers and to pay for an education campaign about the new voter ID law.

The office's budget request for fiscal year 2013 includes a $1.5 million increase over its current $8.9 million.

Since 1999, poll workers have been paid $75 to $100 for a long day's work, Stephanie Singer, chairwoman of the Office of the City Commissioners told Council during a budget hearing. Singer proposed increasing pay to $152 based on a prevailing hourly wage of $10.88 for 14 hours, which would cost the city $1 million.

"I realize that's a large number, but our poll workers deserve it," Singer said. Survey and data analysis related to Voter ID's would cost $100,000.

Read more.

By Mike Dunn, CBSPhilly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The new overseer of Philadelphia elections went before City Council with hat in hand asking for more money to pay the people who man the polls.

City Commission Chairwoman Stephanie Singer, who succeeded longtime chairwoman Marge Tartaglione in January, made her first appearance at the city council budget hearing. And she was quick to ask for more than the mayor had proposed: an extra $2.2 million dollars above the $8.5 million proposed in the budget.

Half of the extra amount, Singer said, would be to raise the payments given to poll workers on primary and election days.

“Especially with the Voter Photo ID Law, it really would be a shame to pay them like its 1999.”

Singer said if you rank how the top 20 U.S. cities pay its poll workers, Philadelphia would rank 18th.

She also wants more expenses related to informing voters in the fall about the new Photo ID law.

Read more.

By Matthew Grady for WHYY's NewsWorks

...Stephanie Singer, recently-elected chair of the Commissioner's office, was at City Hall by 6:45 AM. Once arrived, she experienced relative quiet. The phone rang, but "not off the hook," in her words.

At 9 a.m., she departed for the Board of Elections headquarters on Delaware Ave. at Spring Garden Street where she observed a unique phenomenon – calls for replacement doorbells for polling stations.

After visits to various polling locations, she stopped in to noted political haunts – 4th Street Deli and Relish in NW Philadelphia – then returned to City Hall for meetings.

Asked if she anticipated an after-work rush on polling stations, she said only, "I wish."...

Zack Stalberg, president and CEO of the Committee of 70, said that the installation of Singer and Schmidt suggests a "new era" for the Commissioner's office.

"They seem to be trying to fix the office," he said, and explained that they are following customer service guidelines offered by the Committee of 70, and are attempting to run an "open operation."...

Next week, the Commissioner's Office will go before City Council in order to seek additional funding for election worker compensation.

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By Catherine Lucey, Philadelphia Inquirer's "Philly Clout" blog

City Commissioners Chairwoman Stephanie Singer is sporting a head-turning new do for tomorrow's Primary Election.

To mark her first election on the job, Singer has red, white and blue streaks adorning one side of her hair. She told PhillyClout she wanted to celebrate voting with a special look.

"Election Day should be festive," Singer said. "I'd love to have parades on Election Day."

Singer declined to talk details about the colorful locks. But they looked like a temporary addition to her bobbed hair. And just how long she plans to keep the look is unclear.

"Only my hairdresser knows for sure," Singer joked. "I might trot it out on future election days."

Read more.

By Catherine Lucey, Philadelphia Inquirer

New City Commissioners Chairwoman Stephanie Singer is trying hard to put the fun into voting. At polling places across the city on Tuesday, the commissioners provided red-and-blue stickers that said "I Voted Today" or "He Votado Hoy."

"I thought it was important to raise the profile of Election Day," said Singer. "One of my goals is to engage Philadelphians in the voting process. This is an inexpensive, fun way to raise the profile."

Singer said the stickers cost the commissioners $4,000. But Singer's joy seeing them on lapels across town? Priceless.

By Kevin McCorry, for WHYY's Newsworks

Those in favor of Pennsylvania's new voter ID law say that it will ensures the validity of the state's election results.

Those opposing it, such as Philadelphia City Commissioner Stephanie Singer, question the intentions behind that premise. Singer says the new legislation is purely a politically motivated attempt to disenfranchise urban voters — those who are more likely to be Democratic-leaning and more likely to lack official identification.

Yesterday, speaking from city's District Attorney Seth Williams' office, she called for voters to send a message to the state lawmakers who passed the measure.

"The best way to beat this law is for Philadelphia to come out and vote. Because every time you vote, you make Philadelphia's voice louder on the state level, You make your neighborhood's voice louder on the city level," said Singer.

Read more.

By Mike Dunn, CBS Philly

...Philadelphia Elections Commissioner Stephanie Singer reminds voters that they are not required to present ID today, unless like in years past they are voting for the first time at a particular poll.

“Everyone should know that the rules are the same as they always have been.  If it’s your first time voting at a polling place — a utility bill, your voter registration cards.  And if you voted at your polling place, you don’t need any ID, you just need to sign your name.”

But, the law requiring that everyone present ID takes effect in November, so Singer expects questions about it today. “There may well be confusion. The law was passed in the middle of March, and it was a very, very short time frame to educate the public and the poll workers.”

Read more.

By Bob Warner, Philadelphia Inquirer

In a less-imperfect world, Tuesday's primary would be a dry run for the debut of Pennsylvania's voter-identification requirements, a chance for election officials throughout the state to gauge the law's impact and make appropriate adjustments before the presidential contest in November.

But the voter-ID legislation was passed so close to the primary - Gov. Corbett signed it into law on March 14, and state officials were still tinkering with ID possibilities last week - that Tuesday's election will be like holding a dress rehearsal while the writer is still working on the script.

The Corbett administration describes the primary as a "soft rollout" for the requirement that every voter must present an approved form of photo ID. All voters Tuesday will be asked for identification, but they will be allowed to vote regardless, as long as they have voted previously in the same precinct or division. (New voters in any precinct always have to bring ID.) [...]

Before the voter-ID bill cleared the legislature, Philadelphia election officials had already completed training for more than half the 7,000 or so people who staff the city's 1,687 polling places. There wasn't time or money to change course.

"If we had six months' lead time, we would have had time to revamp our training for poll workers and implement a real soft rollout, to implement it well," said Stephanie Singer, chairwoman of Philadelphia's city commissioners, who oversee elections.

"The big question is, why did they pass the law and make it apply to an election that was six weeks away?" Singer, a Democrat, asked. "The reasonable thing would have been to do a soft rollout in the November election and full implementation next spring."

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By Isaiah Thompson, Philadelphia City Paper

This week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on a probe within the City Commissioners — the office that oversees Philadelphia elections — of "over-voting" at polling places, including within Ward 7, describing vote totals that didn't match the number of signatures on the city's voter rolls and signatures that didn't match those on registration forms.

The mere fact of this "probe" is welcome — under former City Commissioner Marge Tartaglione, the City Commission was notoriously reluctant to do exactly what her successors Stephanie Singer and Al Schmidt appear to be doing: dusting off the books, getting out the pencils and checking the last election's results against the books in which they were recorded. But ultimately, it's their own office and the legacy left by Tartaglione that will need to be probed. No small job.

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