House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

In the near future I plan to reintroduce House Bill 28 of 2011, which would allow voters registered as independent or nonparty voters to file an affidavit of provisional registration to vote in a primary election.

Under current Pennsylvania law, only members of the two major parties are permitted to vote in primary elections. Per the Department of State’s 2011 report to the General Assembly, 1,004,489 people are registered as independent, nonparty, or minor party voters. Therefore, more than 12% of the population is unable to vote in primary elections. In order to resolve this discrepancy, my proposal amends the Act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), otherwise known as the Election Code, to allow voters registered as independent or nonparty voters to file an affidavit of provisional registration to vote in a primary election.

Currently, 11 states operate under open primary systems, and 24 have a hybrid, semi-open primary election system. Please join me in adding Pennsylvania to the list of states that offer freedom of choice to all of its voters rather than to members of the two major parties.