title
Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the General Assembly to enact, with all deliberate speed, the provisions of S.B. 400, introduced on April 26, 2023, and providing for the institution of a semi-open Primary Election voting process in the Commonwealth.
body
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is one of only nine of the United States that continues to utilize a “closed” Primary Election voting system, in which only members of the two major parties may cast ballots for their own parties’ candidates for elected office, and independent and unaffiliated voters are limited to voting only on ballot questions; and
WHEREAS, because of this “closed” Primary Election voting system (which has been in place in Pennsylvania since 1937), over 1.2 million voters in the Commonwealth are statutorily forbidden from voting for any candidate(s) in any primary election, with about 1.1 million of these voters being registered as “independent” otherwise unaffiliated with any party; and
WHEREAS, as noted in a co-sponsorship memorandum circulated by the two primary sponsors of S.B. 400, Senators Boscola (D - Northampton) and Laughlin (R - Erie) in December of 2022, independent and/or unaffiliated voters likely include disproportionate numbers of Pennsylvania veterans, since half of all veterans are political independents, along with a high number of young voters, Latino and Asian-American voters, who on average are much more likely to register as independents; and
WHEREAS, a “closed” primary system therefore likely disadvantages these demographic groups disproportionately, by forbidding those that register as independent or unaffiliated from having any say in any candidate’s presence on a General Election ballot; and
WHEREAS, Senators Boscola and Laughlin also note that “closed primaries constitute a form of taxation without representation, as all taxpayers pay for primary elections but not all are allowed to participate.” See, co-sponsorship memorandum of December 22, 20...
Click here for full text