For more than a year, a Reformers’ Roundtable of individuals and organizations pushing for positive change in Philadelphia has been working to craft the outlines of a reform agenda that focuses on principles that affect how decisions are made in Philadelphia and how the public participates in those decisions.
ReformBallot.org is a website that is structured so that you, citizens of Philadelphia, were able to participate in writing the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda to guide future city lawmakers. The goal of the site is to create a “R.E.F.O.R.M. Ballot” that you can take with you to the polls on Election Day, and which will help you determine the candidates who most represent the true spirit of reform and democracy in Philadelphia.
The first step in the process utilized “wiki” technology in order to edit the draft R.E.F.O.R.M. principles. Any visitor to the site who registered and signed the R.E.F.O.R.M. Compact was able to edit the principles.
From a total of 60 principles contributed and edited through April 4th, the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda was then narrowed down through a voting process where visitors to the site selected their top four choices to be the final R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda.
Once the voting period closed on April 20th, candidates for mayor and city council were prevailed upon to vote on which principles they promised to uphold if elected. They were given 10 days to vote. All of the mayoral candidates, and approximately 2/3s of the city council candidates voted during that time.
The results have been compiled into easy-to-read tables with the final vote tallies. In addition, there is a page where you can enter your voting district and your party and create a printable ballot that you can take to the polls and vote for which candidates best represent your vision for the reform of city government in Philadelphia.
This process was a true exercise in democracy. By giving anyone who wanted to participate the opportunity to help create the R.E.F.O.R.M. Agenda, ReformBallot.org has given citizens a voice in helping to change the culture of corruption that has permeated politics as usual in Philadelphia for too long. It provides a tool for holding accountable those candidates who are chosen to run the city. ReformBallot.org combines technology and democracy to create change, and even more importantly, a sense of hope that this time things will be different.
