There's a new push to make Pennsylvania's primary elections open to independents

[FakeNoose]

Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, and Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Montgomery, spoke on Wednesday in the state Capitol about their new bill that would end Pennsylvania's system of closed primary elections. (Ford Turner/Post-Gazette)


(link) https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2023/04/26/pennsylvania-primary-elections-open-closed-bill/stories/202304260089

HARRISBURG — More than 1.2 million registered voters can’t take part in Pennsylvania’s “closed” party primary elections. A bipartisan pair of state senators say changing that is crucial to restoring healthy political discussion.

Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, and Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, on Wednesday introduced a bill to allow voters not affiliated with the two major parties to cast ballots in party primaries. Doing so, they said, would force Democratic and Republican primary candidates to reach out to a broader swath of voters, instead of courting only the extreme right or extreme left of the electorate.

“In Pennsylvania politics, thanks to these closed primaries, spring is not a time when hope flowers, but when apathy, cynicism and polarization take root,” Mr. Laughlin said at a Capitol news conference. “Let’s be honest, our primary process no longer works.”

Ms. Boscola said she has unsuccessfully pushed bills for 20 years that seek to end “closed” primary elections limited to Republicans and Democrats. This latest attempt, she said, may have a better chance at success because the number of people who consider themselves politically independent is growing.

- more at link -

I'm all for this. We have a lot of independent voters in PA.
I believe this bill would ultimately help the Democratic Party.

[Effete Snob]

1. I used to think open primaries were a bad idea

But I think I am warming up to the concept.

Primary voters - either way - do not tend to be representative of general election voters.

If we aren't going to have ranked preference voting, this is the next best thing.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Under the current system any voter can switch parties prior to primary election so they can vote

and then switch back to their preferred party affiliation after the primary. Not that a lot do it. The current system is useful in reducing extremism of the opposite party in that voters can switch to the other party to support more reasonable candidates, or weaker ones. So this proposed law is no panacea, it's a change that reduces party influence.

The current system arguably gave us Dr. Oz as a GOP Senate candidate instead of a right wing electable businessman. Fetterman would have faced a tougher opponent if Dr. Oz were not the GOP candidate.

[LuvLoogie]

3. Sorry. Democrats have momentum.

Don't want no Trojan pro school voucher 2A apologists diluting the people's party with third way, no labels ringers