Background Information
Pennsylvania is one of only nine states with fully closed primaries, where only registered Republicans and Democrats participate, sending candidates to the general election by a small sector of the electorate. The current system guarantees that fewer voters participate, elections are less competitive and, ultimately, political polarization is reinforced, contributing to legislative gridlock and hampering good governance.
A growing number of voters, especially newly registered voters, are not choosing party affiliation upon registration. Currently, over ten percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania are registered as No Affiliation (918,348 out of 8,749,774). [1] Unaffiliated voters have no voice in the primary, thus do not contribute to the choices presented to all voters in the general election
A closed primary system is associated with low voter turnout in the primaries. In PA, an estimated 15-18% of voters (registered as Democrat or Republican) vote in the primaries. The 2022 midterm primary was an exception with 39% of Republican and 32% of Democrats voting.
Because Pennsylvania has excluded independent and unaffiliated voters from participating in primary elections, candidates craft their message to appeal to those who are most likely to vote, the partisan “base”. Primary winners who advance to the general election lack widespread appeal.
Closed Primaries also lead to reduced voter participation when there are questions on the ballot. While unaffiliated voters can vote on these important issues, many fail to participate because they cannot vote for any of the candidates running. Consequently, these important issues are decided by a very small and very partisan segment of the electorate.
One solution to these problems is to open primaries to unaffiliated voters. Legislation to do just that passed in the Pennsylvania Senate in 2019 with wide bipartisan support. Bills have been introduced again in the current legislative session. Bringing more voters into the primary would encourage candidates to engage with a wider electorate earlier in the election cycle and, once elected, govern toward solutions to a broader set of issues.
On August 16th, 2022, LWVPA members testified in front of the PA House State Government Committee in favor of open primaries and PA House Bill 1369. This legislation will give unaffiliated voters the right to participate in the primary election process. Specifically, on the day of the primary election, it will allow these voters to choose to cast their vote on either the Republican or Democrat ballot. Voters who are registered with either the Republican or Democratic Party will continue to be required to vote on their respective ballots.
Click here to watch the testimony. Click here to read the comments.
Open primaries would also encourage more voters to consider and weigh in on important ballot questions – often in the form of constitutional amendments.
[1] Pennsylvania Department of State, Aug. 1, 2022.
