It’s time to pass legislation in Pa. permitting independents to vote in primaries
The Pennsylvania General Assembly has taken steps to allow independents to vote with HB 280. I hope our legislators will do what is right by all voters and support the bill, writes Josh Maxwell.
I remember registering to vote for the first time.
I was a teenager, and I knew very little about how the world worked, let alone the government. When I went to select a party affiliation, I chose “independent,” because — at the time — I honestly didn’t know much about what made the two major political parties different. Besides, I considered myself truly objective, and I wanted to weigh candidates individually rather than by what “team” they were playing for.
Imagine my surprise when I showed up at Minquas Fire Hall in Downingtown, ready to vote in my first primary election, only to be told there was nothing for me to vote on. As an independent, I couldn’t vote in any of the primary races.
I’m willing to bet we can all remember going into a polling booth for the first time and being surprised by something — whether it’s “Wait, judges are elected in Pa.?”, or “I probably should have learned more about all these ballot questions.”
What I learned from that very first primary election is that public participation takes effort and thought — that’s an obligation of citizenship. But citizenship comes with rights as well as obligations, and for independent voters in Pennsylvania those rights are abridged.
Just as I did when I first registered to vote, citizens across our commonwealth today are making the thoughtful decision to register as independents — more than 1.4 million of them. Yet under current law, these 1.4 million independents are barred from participating in the elections that often decide who ultimately governs.
It’s not because they’re ignorant of what political parties are (like I was at age 19), or even because they don’t agree with the stances of a given party. They choose to be independent of any established political ideology for a variety of valid, well-considered reasons. A veteran might choose to be independent to prevent a perceived bias in their service. An employee might choose to be independent to keep their political beliefs private from their employer. A voter might simply decide that neither of our two major political parties reflects their values closely enough to align with them as a member.
Under current law, these 1.4 million independents are barred from participating in the elections that often decide who ultimately governs.
Whatever their reason for registering as independent, they should not be denied the full right to vote granted to voters who choose to register as members of political parties. The Pennsylvania General Assembly has taken steps to allow independents to vote with HB 280. I hope our legislators will do what is right by all voters and support the bill.
During the last general election, a Chester County election worker mistakenly printed the poll books for the primary election, not the general. As a result, when the books were delivered to polling places on Nov. 4, many registered, active independent voters had no choice but to cast a provisional ballot, because their name did not appear in the poll book and poll workers were unable to verify their registration status on the spot.
While we’re fortunate that our election system has the built-in failsafe to vote provisionally (and we are yet more fortunate to have such patient, capable judges of elections and poll workers to guide voters through the process), the provisional ballot is just that — a failsafe, and not something that should be deployed as a matter of course.
It’d be lazy to claim that “well, if independents were able to vote in primary elections, this mistake wouldn’t have happened.” While technically true, that argument misses the bigger takeaway.
First, this was a genuine error that should have been caught, and the Chester County Board of Commissioners — of which I am chair — has since outlined a multilayered action plan to overhaul the process to ensure it will not be repeated.
Second, and more critically, seeing these tens of thousands of voters feel like they weren’t being treated equally to their Republican or Democrat neighbors — because, in this instance, they weren’t — was an eye-opening reminder that the way our commonwealth handles independent voters simply isn’t fair.
I’ll admit that I didn’t always think that. Even after I learned the ins and outs of party registration at 19, I still thought, as so many Democrats and Republicans do, why can’t people just register with a party to vote in the primary, and then, if they want to, switch back for the general election?
Now, I see how that ask is unfair to independents. Not only is it essentially asking them to temporarily abandon their true stance on political parties for the sake of enfranchisement, but it’s also an unnecessary hassle to file and re-file voter registration updates every year.
I don’t think the government should make it harder for eligible voters to vote; we should always be striving to make it easier and more secure. The more paperwork, the fewer voters turn out. And the fewer voters who turn out, the less our elected officials actually represent the will of the people.
» READ MORE: Pennsylvania voters would benefit from an open primary system | Editorial
No matter whether a voter wants to maintain their independence from established parties for professional reasons, out of service to their country, or simply because it feels most in line with their values, I think we should side with the voter — not the party establishment — and respect their decision without erecting barriers that impinge on their rights to vote.
I stand with those who have been barred from primaries for too long. It’s time to pass the legislation that grants us the opportunity to vote in every Pennsylvania election.
Josh Maxwell is chair of the board of commissioners for Chester County. Before he was elected commissioner in 2020, he served 10 years as mayor of Downingtown, Pa.