Seth Bluestein: Promoting for Trust in the Electoral Process

Ensuring election integrity is a bipartisan effort and this is shown in Philadelphia’s City Commissioner board. This is a board of three elected officials who connect residents with voting resources and make elections run smoothly. Two of the members are Democrats and the minority seat is currently occupied by Republican Seth Bluestein.

Bluetsein has been a highly active City Commissioner since starting in February 2022. I met in spring 2023 when working with PA state representative Donna Bullock and he set up a table for her annual Girard Avenue Festival to highlight the diversity of the residents and thriving commercial corridor. The commissioner was out all day engaging with residents, helping register new voters, and showing how they could become poll workers.

Even though he has only been serving in the role for less than two years, the 34-year-old is very familiar with the inner workings of the office. He worked with Al Schmidt during the entire time he served as the city’s Republican city commissioner, from 2012 to 2022. Bluestein held various roles in these years and rose to Chief Deputy Commissioner.

He fell into this line of work at a perfect time, especially considering that the opportunity was presented to him right after finishing his studies. Although Commissioner Bluestein says that “nobody really goes to school for election administration” he credits academic formation for preparing him to execute his duties today.

Commissioner Bluestein attended Philadelphia’s famous Central High School and was one of the first classes in the city to graduate from the International Baccalaureate Program. Once matriculating into the University of Pennsylvania he studied political science and history. Continuing to push himself, Bluestein enrolled in a program that allowed him to graduate in four and a half years with his bachelor's and a master's in public administration.

“The program allowed me to interact with other professionals. So because I went straight to graduate school while I was finishing undergrad, I was one of the youngest people there. Most of the graduate students were individuals who had gone to work in their sectors for a couple of years and then wanted to come back and get a degree. This challenged me and let me hone my skills in working in a professional environment and in public service.”

Secretary of State Al Schmidt (left) and Commissioner Seth Bluestein (right). Photo courtesy of City & State PA.

Schmidt was running for City Commissioner in 2011 while Bluestein was working towards graduation and being on the campaign trail together is how they met.

His ascension to City commissioner was not an orthodox journey. This is not a position many people thought about until the 2020 presidential election. Pennsylvania is usually categorized as a swing state and Joe Biden won it by 1.2 points. President Donald Trump went on to make claims about election fraud in the Keystone State, saying most of it originated in Philadelphia.

Although his allegations were proven after numerous legal battles, the damage was felt in the moment. Maga supporters protested outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, where the city’s votes were being tallied, for days after the election since tabulating took longer this year because of the increase in vote-by-mail ballots resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioner Schmidt received death threats after the president called them out for simply carrying out his duties and not acting as a partisan hack. He later resigned to become president & of Committee of 70, a pro-democracy Philadelphia-based group. Governor Josh Shapiro has since named him Secretary of the Commonwealth, overseeing Pennsylvania’s electoral process.

This City Commissioner vacancy prompted Bluestein to ask to be interviewed by Mayor Jim Kenney for an appointment and he was later confirmed by city council. This meant that Bluestein was allowed to serve out the rest of Schmidt’s third term. Given the unique storm that the 2020 election was, I was curious to see what made him not only agree to finish the term but also seek one of his own in the recent 2023 municipal elections.

“It all stems from a conversation I had with Al. In the midst of the contentious election, Al pulled me and our communications director assigned, and said, ‘Look, this is why we're here’ The whole reason that we ran for office 10 years ago to become the Commissioner is so that we can serve the public with integrity and stand up for the right thing. That sentiment never left me and I needed to make sure that I kept upholding these standards for the voters of Philadelphia.”

With both Schmidt and Bluestein continuing to work in election administration, their friendship and close communication lead to constant communication and preventive strategies for future elections.

“As soon as this current election is certified we'll be entirely focused on preparing for the next Presidential election, because that's going to be a big race, and we all have to make sure that we're prepared for it.”

Bluestein has been interviewed by various media outlets lately for different stories and insights. He was running for reelection himself, Philadelphia had very competitive races for Mayor and City Council, and this city will likely play an important role in next year’s presidential election. I wanted to know what he thinks of this constant interaction with news outlets and how he media trains.

“Because I was a Deputy Commissioner for 10 years, I didn't have much experience interacting with the media doing interviews being on the record on camera until I became Commissioner. So it's a relatively new experience for me. I try to focus on the work of our office and talk about politics,” the commissioner said. “I do not give my opinion on an individual candidate because I want to make sure that every candidate who interacts with our office, no matter what their party affiliation or personal positions are, that they can be confident that we're running the elections fairly.”

This is the world Bluestein came into and he has set out goals to reshape the view of the office and restore faith in the election process back to conservative voters in Philadelphia, who are doubtful about fair election messaging after the last presidential election.

He explained that his being on the board is a huge step because Republicans have representation on the board that oversees county elections. His office hopes to cut through the misinformation that some might hear on popular opinion shows by emphasizing the measures they have in place for election observers and the checks and balances they will follow to ensure that decisions are not unilateral.

Bluestein is definitely committed to election integrity and despite the media already overhyping what Philadelphia might be experiencing next year, it is nothing that he is not prepared for.