The League of Women Voters of Bucks County is hosting a virtual discussion on Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. about Pennsylvania’s closed primaries and why they should become open. Registration for the free program is available here.
Diana Dakey, of the LWV of Lackawanna County, will discuss the problems with closed primaries and why opening primaries to independent voters would benefit all Pennsylvania voters.
Pennsylvania is one of nine states with a fully closed primary system, which means that only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote for candidates on the primary ballot. Pennsylvania’s closed primary elections shut out over 1 million Pennsylvania registered voters, who are unaffiliated with a political party, from having a say in a critical part of the electoral process. According to the LWV, closed primaries put the parties in charge and force candidates to play to the most partisan base rather than providing incentives for collaboration and outside-the-box solutions.
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania supports abandoning the closed primary system in favor of either the semi-open or open primary and is an active participant of the Open Primaries PA Coalition.
