The previous League of Women Voters article in the Bucks County Herald (published June 15) addressed the issue of whether the Pennsylvania primary elections should remain closed or should be opened. In the article, the LWV asked Herald readers to share their opinions about this.
Sixteen readers responded: 15 of the 16 said primaries should be open. While this is clearly a small sample, the position on opening was almost unanimous.
Who were these respondents? There were nine females and seven males. Their age range was 68 to 83; the average age was 73. There were four Independents, 12 Democrats, and zero Republicans. Four of the respondents gave a rationale for their position.
The one respondent who believed the primaries should remain closed argued that non-members of groups do not impact the decisions of those groups or elect its leaders.
However, if non-affiliated voters were able to vote in the primary, they would inform the party as to which of their candidates are more appealing to the larger electorate. This would be important in the November general election, as each party needs the support of the independent/non-affiliated/third party voters to gain a majority. (According to the PA Department of State, as of May 2022, Pennsylvania’s registered voters were distributed as follows: 46% Democrats; 39% Republicans;10% unaffiliated; 4% third party.) Thus, the votes of 14% of Pennsylvania voters (vs. 17% of Bucks County Voters) will be eagerly sought by each of the two parties.
The other three respondents who gave a rationale believed the primaries should be open. One argued that non-affiliated voters are frequently unaware that they can vote on any constitutional amendments, local initiatives on the ballot, or in special elections.
A second argued that closed primaries are an example of modern-day Jim Crow vote restriction. She is actually an Independent, but has registered as a Democrat so she could vote in the primaries. In fact, there may be many voters who consider themselves independent and register with one or the other party just for access to the primary.
A third argued that, even though he had no children, he believed education was critically important and flawed, and he was displeased that he was not able to choose school board members.
Pennsylvania has had a closed primary since 1937. It was introduced to remedy a developing issue at the time (multiple new political parties). This reason no longer holds true.
Advocates and some lawmakers have been trying to open Pennsylvania’s primary system for many years. For example, Ballot PA, in partnership with other civic and community organizations including Common Cause and the LWV, is working to open Pennsylvania’s closed primary system (See www.ballotpa.org). So, too, is a citizen’s group called Independent Pennsylvanians (pa.independents.org).
Although the change has bipartisan support in PA and has gained traction in recent legislative sessions, it has not passed both the state House and Senate.
The League of Women Voters believes that the Pennsylvania primaries should be open because we believe that all citizens, regardless of registration status, should be able to participate in the primary of the political party of their choice. This is essential in a democracy.
Furthermore, including unaffiliated voters in the decision-making process at the primary stage is more likely to result in more moderate candidates being selected, avoiding the most extreme ones, for the final election in November. More moderate legislators are more likely to look for ways to compromise, thereby avoiding gridlock in Harrisburg.
If you feel strongly about opening the PA primary (or keeping it closed), contact your PA senator and state representative: search “Find my Legislator” for contact information.
Your representatives have no way of knowing your position, unless you tell them. They work for us.
Cathy Morano is a member of the League of Women Voters of Bucks County, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to providing voter education and services and advocating for issues. It envisions a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate.
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