Strengthening faith in democracy: 2023 Exemplary Public Servant Lisa Deeley

Spinning around in a barber chair gave Lisa Deeley a unique view of politics and community. Deeley was raised by a single mom in Philadelphia, when there weren’t a lot of childcare options available. “So basically, everywhere my mom went, I went with her,” she says. And Deeley’s mom was involved in politics, serving on the local level as a committee person. “You’re basically a representative for the major party in just your six-block radius neighborhood,” Deeley explains.

Lisa Deeley

Deeley’s mom worked in the neighborhoods, daughter in tow, encouraging people to vote and working for the candidates the party was supporting on Election Day. “We voted in a barber shop that had big leather chairs that were square, and they sat on a round, turnstile, and all day I would sit there and just spin and spin. Obviously, I was taking it all in and it just grew from there.”

From that barber shop chair, as she got older, Deeley herself started helping on campaigns, and in her 20s got a job working for a Pennsylvania state representative in their district office, which put her right in the community where she did constituent service work. She also did city-wide constituent work in Philadelphia, and worked for a district councilperson, honing her skills, and learning how things moved through the Philadelphia government.

When she was 18, Deeley ran for the judge of elections in her local polling place, and when she was 21, she ran for committee person, a position she held for 30 years, and she also served as a state committee member. And in 2015, Deeley was elected city commissioner of Philadelphia, and she is currently serving her third four-year term in that position. It is because of her life-long dedication to Philadelphia city government that she was named as a 2023 Exemplary Public Servant by American City & County.

During her first term as city commissioner, Deeley hit the ground running. “One of the first things I did was a national voter registration day in Philadelphia,” she says. “I tried to make that an annual event in partnership with the district council people in the city.” They coordinated with each district to select a school in those districts, and then they brought a voting machine to that school to speak with students, encouraging and informing them on voting in general and voting in Philadelphia specifically. “We got a resolution passed, and city council recognizing national voter registration day in Philadelphia. And we did that for a couple years. So, I’m really proud of that.”

It was during her second term that Deeley faced her biggest challenge. The Department of Elections had been relying on an outdated electronic system. In 2018, then-Governor Tom Wolf mandated that every county in Pennsylvania implement a new voting system that relied on a verifiable backup paper ballot of some kind. Deeley, along with Deputy Commissioner Nick Custodio, spearheaded the search for a new system. After extensive research and procurement process, the Department of Elections went with InThing’s Voting Equipment Tracking Software (VETS) and Zebra’s RFID readers, a combination that streamlined the entire voting process.

“In 2019, we chose our system and rolled that out. We did over 600 demonstrations around the city and we amped up our outreach to get the voters of Philadelphia familiarized with a new voting system, which they hadn’t seen for decades,” Deeley says. “So that was that was a really huge undertaking that we’re really proud of, the success of that and the voters of Philadelphia love it.”

Now, voters can see the full ballot on a screen, and when they are finished, their ballot is printed out, so they have a paper ballot to verify their selections are correct before that ballot is put into a hopper. So, their votes are tabulated by the voting machine, and there is a verifiable paper ballot as well.

“We switched in a major way the way Philadelphia votes that also enabled a better system for our handicapped and disabled folks, and it forced us really, to look at all of our polling places, and we did a lot of subsequent work as a result of that new voting system,” she adds. “So that one change saw a lot of other changes that really have been a positive step towards making Philadelphia have a more pleasant and professional voting experience.”

Deeley says that aside from the challenges of training poll workers on the new systems, “I would say the most challenging part of our position is fighting back all the myths and disinformation that surrounds elections. In spite of no facts to back it up and in spite of Philadelphia having one of its safest, most secure elections of all time in 2020, we still find ourselves answering to these conspiracy theories and all the non-truths that are constantly still spinning around the ballot elections.”

The VETS system and RFID readers are helping combat those doubts, as they provide an accurate record of the chain of command for all ballots and equipment. “We have 1,703 precincts in Philadelphia, and every [precinct] has a least two voting machines, so the number of voting machines that we have is a lot at the end of the night,” Deeley says. And they need to get all the paper ballot hoppers and machines back ASAP. She says the RFID system has revolutionized that return process, because they can see in real-time where everything is as it comes in. “It really helps us when we go back to the myths and the disinformation. A lot of that in Pennsylvania is because we take a little longer to get the results in based on the rules and the laws that we have with regards to that. But having this technology is another time-saving thing that we have to help us get done faster and more efficiently. So, our biggest problem is we want to make sure that we have the media sticks, we want to make sure we have the paper ballots, and we want to make sure we have the machine. The RFID enables us almost instantaneously to be able to identify those three things. … And it really it helps with our ensuring chain security and custody and efficiency.”

With the VETS and RFID systems successfully in place, Deeley and her office are now gearing up for the primary election on April 23, 2024, and the general election on Nov. 5. “Every election is, for us, basically the same, we have to do the same things. But with a presidential election, that is on a grander scale because more people participate in a presidential election. We wish we could see that same participation throughout every cycle but for now, presidential cycles are our busiest cycle,” Deeley says. “So, we are gearing up in the same fashion that we typically do, only we’re doubling and tripling our efforts with regard to outreach, and just making sure that everybody in Philadelphia that can vote is voting, and they have everything they need to be able to do that.”

Deeley has spent her life embedded in elections in Philadelphia, and is still excited about what the future brings. “The most rewarding part of this position is that people are still voting, and they are anxious to try new things,” she says. “We rolled out a couple new things in Philadelphia. In addition to the voting system, we have electronic poll books. We are excited to welcome new common-sense strategies to help people vote, and help people feel more comfortable about it. And you know, that’s probably what I’m most proud of. I’m most proud of how far Philadelphia elections have come since I’ve been elected.”

Her attitude on public service has been shaped by her government experience, but also by just being out in the community with her neighbors and constituents. “Public service is important to me because I believe that there is no greater reward than helping your neighbor.” Deeley says. “There are a lot of ways to do that. I worked in a grocery store for 10 years when I was in my late teens, early 20s, and there are people there that help people. There are people that go to the grocery store every day, just because they like to have an interaction. It’s the only interaction they have. So, each one of us can make a difference in people’s lives. And I just feel as though, in elected office and where I’m at in Philadelphia, it’s a real opportunity and a blessing for me to be able to make a difference in people’s lives. And for me to make a difference in this democracy in our country, which is also so very important to me.”