On Sunday (June 6) The Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette came out in opposition to Pennsylvania’s “Closed Primary” system. The Post-Gazette wrote –
Pennsylvania is among a handful of states that practice closed primaries, meaning that only Democrats and Republicans can cast ballots in the spring contest for candidates seeking major-party endorsement.
It is a prejudicial system, one that gives voice at the ballot box only to segments of the voting public. It is a de facto denial of the principle of one person, one vote. Because not every qualified voter actually gets a vote. Not in the primary.
Pennsylvania has 1.2 million “unaffiliated” voters whose tax dollars pay for primary elections in which they cannot participate.
Penn Capital Star wrote in December of 2020 –
In 2019, more than 1.2 million Pennsylvania voters were registered as “unaffiliated,” or third-party voters as national trends show the number of self-identified “independents” increasing, according to Pew Research Center.
Yet, in states such as Pennsylvania, with closed or partially closed primaries, independent and unaffiliated voters are left out of a portion of their civic duty.