The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would open Pennsylvania’s primaries to independent voters.
The bill, authored by Rep. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia), passed on a 115-88 vote, with 16 Republicans voting in favor and three Democrats voting against.
The bill would allow independent and unaffiliated voters to choose either the Democratic or Republican primary ballot without changing their voter registration.
Pennsylvania currently has a closed primary system, meaning voters generally must be registered with a party to participate in that party’s primary.
Solomon said the change would give more voters a voice in determining which candidates appear on the general election ballot.
“1.5 million voters are locked out, shut out of the primary system. That’s downright un-American,” Solomon said. “Other states like Nebraska and California, red and blue, have opened up their system. They have more interesting coalitions of people coming together. New energy, new ideas on the issues of the day.”
The bill comes as the number of Pennsylvanians registering without an affiliation to either major political party continues to grow. Recent voter registration data shows more than 1.5 million voters are registered as independent or unaffiliated, making the group one of the fastest-growing affiliations in the state.
Republicans largely stood in opposition to the change, with members like Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon), arguing that political parties are private entities that have the right to choose their own candidates.
“We don’t actually elect anybody at a primary election. They’re nominating contests for the parties who have enough voters in them to be declared a major party in Pennsylvania,” Diamond said. “I don’t want outsiders voting in that, whether I’m a Democrat or a Republican. I don’t want outsiders coming into my party’s process and telling us who our candidates should be.”
It comes as more Pennsylvanians than ever before are registering as independent, making it the fastest-growing party affiliation.
The 2022 general election drew roughly twice the number of votes as its primary did.
Solomon said the growing number of independent voters reflects a desire among some Pennsylvanians to separate themselves from the two major political parties.
“We need to simply embrace the reality that people are tired of both political parties,” Solomon said. “We have the opportunity to engage those voters if we believe in our party. We should want this so that it is a jump ball, and we try and compete for the independent voices across the state.”
Diamond said voters who want to participate in a primary can already change their party registration.
“It’s free in Pennsylvania to change your registration 15 days before a primary election to Republican or Democrat, so you can vote in a primary, and then it’s free again to change it right back after the election to qualify yourself to vote in a primary,” Diamond said.
The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.