PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As Republicans and Democrats go to the polls in Pennsylvania Tuesday, more than 1 million voters statewide will be shut out of the process because they’re not registered with a major party.
Pennsylvania is one of 10 states that still restrict participation in primaries.
“We also have a lot of places that are segregated by party, predominately Republican or Democratic areas where the primary is basically the election, so when you tell all those independent voters they can’t vote in the primary, you’re really taking away their opportunity to vote on their elected officials that will definitely be in that office come the fall,” said Lauren Cristella, president of election watchdog group Committee of Seventy.
In Philadelphia, that’s true of the Democratic primary, and City Committee Chair Bob Brady agrees it’s a problem.
“Let ‘em all vote. If they want to vote, let them vote,” he said.
Republican ward leader Matt Wolfe disagrees. He says the whole purpose of primaries is for parties to pick nominees for the general, when anyone can vote.
“There’s no reason that anybody but members of that particular party should have a role in selecting that nominee,” Wolfe said.
He adds it’s easy to register with a party if you really want to pick that party’s nominee.
In September, five former Pennsylvania governors — Republicans Tom Corbett, Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker, as well as Democrats Ed Rendell and Tom Wolf — came together to argue in favor of open primaries.
Independent voters pay taxes to fund primaries but can’t participate. The former governors said the move could bring more independents back into the parties, giving them a chance to “try before you buy.”
In October, proposals to let independent voters cast ballots in the primary passed a Pennsylvania House of Representatives committee, but it has not advanced since.