Tag: pennsylvania

Four independent voters, including well-known journalist Michael Smerconish and political reform advocate David Thornburgh, are suing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, arguing that its closed primary system violates their constitutional rights under the state’s Free and Equal Elections Clause.

The estimated cost for Tuesday’s primary elections in Pennsylvania is around $75 million for state and local governments. It’s a large price tag, especially since it is being paid for by voters who are denied the right to participate.

A bill that would open Pennsylvania primary elections to over 1.4 million registered independent voters, HB 280, cleared its first major hurdle to becoming law this week when it cleared the House State Government Committee.

Pennsylvania Voters First, a project of Unite America, announced new poll data that found strong majorities among Pennsylvanians that believe the state's 1.4 million independent voters should have access to taxpayer-funded primary elections.

Election reformers are celebrating the adoption of primary elections in New Mexico that are open to the state's substantial independent voter population. But there is an even larger group of independents that could soon be granted access to these critical taxpayer-funded elections in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania held its primary elections Tuesday, which effectively acted as the general election in most cases. However, statewide, over a million voters had to sit on the sidelines because of the state's closed primary rules.

Efforts to reform Pennsylvania's closed partisan primary system continue with groups like Ballot PA urging state lawmakers to give independent voters equal voting rights in the state's taxpayer-funded elections process.