There continues to be a push to move Pennsylvania to an open primary system for elections.
David Thronburgh is the chair of Ballot PA and he says the current closed primary doesn’t allow independent voters to have a say in the process.
“A solution that gets us closer toward a more representative government and more representative choices is to repeal closed primaries,” Thornburgh told the Pennsylvania Press Club. “We’re only one of nine states that haven’t made that move.”
In a closed primary, Republicans and Democrats can only vote for candidates in the party. Independents are not allowed to vote in either party’s primary.
Thornburgh believes that voter turnout would also increase if independents could vote in the primary. He said around 40 percent of Pennsylvania cast a ballot this past spring.
