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Pa. Assembly eyes open primaries, end to straight-ticket voting

Pennsylvania voters who aren't registered as members of a political party would have the option of participating in primary elections under a measure advanced by the state Senate.

FILE - A polling place at the bocce court at Marconi Plaza in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania voters who aren't registered as members of a political party would have the option of participating in primary elections under a measure advanced by the state Senate.
FILE - A polling place at the bocce court at Marconi Plaza in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania voters who aren't registered as members of a political party would have the option of participating in primary elections under a measure advanced by the state Senate.Read moreMichael Bryant / Staff photographer
    by The Associated Press, The Associated Press
    Updated 
    Published 

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters who are not registered as members of a political party would have the option of participating in primary elections under a measure advanced by the state Senate.

Senators voted 42-8 on Tuesday for a bill that would permit those unaffiliated voters to decide which major party primary they want to cast their ballot in.

The Senate also voted 30-20 to end straight-ticket voting, which lets people cast all their votes for a single party.

The House subsequently teed up a bill with a set of election rule changes and could pass it as early as Wednesday.

The House bill would prohibit the administration from decertifying voting machines in most counties without reporting details to the General Assembly six months beforehand.

The number of unaffiliated voters in the state has risen 75% in eight years, part of a national trend that’s led to pressure to open up primaries.

Pennsylvania's system of closed primaries dates back at least to 1937.

The bill was sent to the state House.