Primary Elections: Should they be open or closed?

Last week, in the Primary Election (May 17), some Pennsylvanians decided who would be on the ballot this November for Governor, for U.S. Senator, and for many other legislative positions. Some Pennsylvanians were not allowed to vote.
The purpose of a Primary Election, as opposed to a General Election, is to determine which candidates will represent the two major parties (Republican; Democratic) in the November General Election. Whenever two or more candidates from the same party run against each other, there is a Primary before the General Election. Each political party selects its candidates; whoever gets the highest number of votes in the Primary Election then goes on to run in the General Election
The Primary Elections can be either open or closed, depending on the state. Most states have some form of open primaries; in contrast, Pennsylvania law stipulates that parties conduct closed primaries. Since 1937!
An Open Primary means that every citizen who is registered to vote, whether they belong to one of the two major parties, to another party, or are independent/unaffiliated voters, has the right to vote in either party’s primary but not both. In contrast, PA’S Closed Primary means that only citizens currently registered as either Republicans or Democrats are eligible to vote in a Primary Election. Further, In PA’s closed primary, registered Republicans can only vote for Republican candidates; registered Democrats can only vote for Democratic candidates. Accordingly, there are different ballots for the two main political Another alternative is a semi-open primary, in which independent or unaffiliated voters can vote in the primary of one or another party, but Republicans or Democrats can only vote in their own party’s primary.
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania supports abandoning the closed primary system in favor of either the semi-open or open primary.

The rationale for having a Closed Primary is the belief that only members of a political party should determine their own nominees. The rationale for having an Open Primary, on the other hand, is that nearly a million PA taxpaying independents are disenfranchised at the primary level, despite paying to fund these elections. They have no say in who could possibly be a candidate for the next Governor of PA or the next U.S. Senator representing PA in Congress. Further, some of these voters, because they can’t vote in the Primary, will be less likely to vote in the General Election. If you believe that the greater the number of voters, the stronger the Democracy, this is problematic. Further, by definition, aren’t many ‘Independents’ more likely to make thoughtful decisions about the candidates who will best serve them rather than simply voting the party line? Still further, aren’t many independents more likely to be moderate rather than extremist in their positions? Less partisan? Might one argue that Independents are the most important voting block? Given the current extremes in politics, can our democracy afford to disenfranchise them?
According to BallotPA (ballotpa.org), three out of four4 Pennsylvanians support repealing closed primaries – including majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
To change from a Closed Primary to an Open Primary in Pennsylvania, we the people need to convince our legislators to pass the bipartisan Senate Bill 690, which would allow unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in Primary Elections.

For further information about this issue, go to ballotpa.org.

For further information about the League of Women Voters, go to lwvbucks.org.

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