logo

Independent Voters Critique Pennsylvania's Closed Primaries

image
Author: Lucas Eaves
Created: 23 May, 2013
Updated: 14 October, 2022
2 min read

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania held primary elections where voters could choose either a Democrat or Republican candidate who would then proceed to the November ballot in the state's municipal elections.

Like 17 other states, Pennsylvania has a closed primary system, meaning that only voters registered with the Democratic or Republican parties are allowed to vote. This system prevents over 1 million voters, who have registered as independent or with a minor party, from voting in the primary.

However, like in all states, these partisan primary elections are ultimately funded by the taxpayers. For this year's primaries, the bill is estimated at $20 million. Although such a system has historically been the status quo, a growing share of independents in the American electorate are now speaking out.

On Tuesday, Matt Zencey, a writer for Pennlive and The Patriot-News, published a piece in which he argues that the closed primary system in Pennsylvania potentially violates the state's constitution:

"Then there’s that whole “free and equal” elections thing in the Pennsylvania constitution. Although the courts have yet to consider the question, I believe that a taxpayer-funded election which excludes a particular class of duly registered voters is not “free and equal” under Pennsylvania’s constitution."

More ideas to address this issue are currently being discussed. State Sen. Rob Teplitz supports a bill that would allow independents to register with one of the two main parties in order to vote in the primary before reverting to their original status. Yet, this remains a cumbersome process that would still not offer true equality to voters not registered with the two main parties, leaving many non-party affiliated voters feeling separate, but equal.

Matt Zencey and Jennifer Bullock, founder of Independent Pennsylvanians, both consider the nonpartisan top-two open primary a likely solution to the issue. A third solution, evoked by Barry Kauffman from Common Cause, could be to make the parties pay for their primaries.

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read