Video: Who Will Give 1 Million Independent Penn. Voters an Equal Vote?

closed primaries
Published: 23 May, 2023
1 min read

One million Pennsylvania voters are locked out of taxpayer-funded primary elections. Local reformers have mobilized to change the system -- and with recent bipartisan legislation introduced to open primaries to independent voters, it looks like their efforts are bearing fruit.

Open Primaries President John Opdycke and Ballot PA Chair David Thornburgh hosted a discussion with former PA Senate President Joe Scarnati and Independent Pennsylvanians Director Jennifer Bullock, along with local reformers, to get an on-the-ground report on what is going on in one of the nation's most contentious battleground states. 

Scarnatti and Bullock have long championed primary reform and while efforts to open primary elections are not new to Pennsylvania, the political landscape in the state has changed, and the people working for better and fairer elections believe things feel different this time around. Check out the full discussion above.

You Might Also Like

Trump sitting in the oval office with a piece of paper with a cannabis leaf on his desk.
Is Trump About to Outflank Democrats on Cannabis? Progressives Sound the Alarm
As President Donald Trump signals renewed interest in reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, a policy goal long championed by liberals and libertarians, the reaction among some partisan progressive advocates is not celebration, but concern....
08 Dec, 2025
-
5 min read
Malibu, California.
From the Palisades to Simi Valley, Independent Voters Poised to Decide the Fight to Replace Jacqui Irwin
The coastline that defines California’s mythology begins here. From Malibu’s winding cliffs to the leafy streets of Brentwood and Bel Air, through Topanga Canyon and into the valleys of Calabasas, Agoura Hills, and Thousand Oaks, the 42nd Assembly District holds some of the most photographed, most coveted, and most challenged terrain in the state. ...
10 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Ranked choice voting
Ranked Choice for Every Voter? New Bill Would Transform Every Congressional Election by 2030
As voters brace for what is expected to be a chaotic and divisive midterm election cycle, U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin (Md.), Don Beyer (Va.), and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (Vt.) have re-introduced legislation that would require ranked choice voting (RCV) for all congressional primaries and general elections beginning in 2030....
10 Dec, 2025
-
3 min read