{"id":98592,"date":"2025-07-28T05:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T05:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98592\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T05:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T05:38:10","slug":"former-executive-director-of-fels-institute-among-voters-suing-to-end-pa-closed-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98592\/","title":{"rendered":"Former executive director of Fels Institute among voters suing to end Pa. closed primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"11-05-25-election-day-abhiram-juvvadi\"\/
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Penn alumni are among the many plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to challenge Pennsylvania\u2019s closed primary system that they believe illegally excludes independent voters from the primary process.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Abhiram Juvvadi<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Four Pennsylvania voters have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state\u2019s closed primary system with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, petitioners told The Daily Pennsylvanian.\n<\/p>\n

The petition<\/a>, filed July 15, asks the court to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in partisan primaries. Former executive director of the Fels Institute of Government David Thornburgh and 1987 University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School graduate Michael Smerconish \u2014 a longtime television and radio host \u2014 are among the voters who brought the case.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania is one of just nine states <\/a>where both major parties fully restrict primary participation to registered members \u2014 effectively sidelining over 1.4 million independent and third-party voters across the state. The petitioners claim that Section 2812 of the Election Code<\/a>, which allows only registered members of political parties to vote in primaries, violates the Free and Equal Election Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution<\/a> by failing to treat independent voters equally.\n<\/p>\n

In an interview with the DP, Thornburgh classified the issue of changing the state\u2019s closed primary system as \u201curgent and important.\u201d This motivation, he said, led the voters to file a King\u2019s Bench petition \u2014 a method of litigation that sends the case directly to the state Supreme Court, naming the Pennsylvania Department of State as the defendant.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

According to a recent study by the Institute for Citizens and Scholars<\/a>, 61% of young voters now identify as independents. In Pennsylvania, unaffiliated registration is on the rise<\/a> even as closed primaries persist.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t vote in the primary, you have no voice,\u201d Thornburgh said, citing research<\/a> that 91% of Pennsylvania\u2019s legislative races are decided in primaries. He noted that the current system stems from legislation passed in 1937 and that more than 50 million independent voters have been excluded from participating since then.\n\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not some social club or sports team,\u201d Thornburgh said. \u201cIt\u2019s participating in the process by which people represent me, and therefore, make important decisions about what to do with my tax dollars.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Thornburgh emphasized that political parties are trying to categorize primaries as private elections subject to their own rules while simultaneously relying on taxpayer funding and state administration to run them. By adopting open primaries in Pennsylvania, the petitioners say that elected officials would have to be more responsive to voters across the political spectrum in their districts.\n<\/p>\n

Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president of Open Primaries<\/a> \u2014 a nonprofit backing the legal effort \u2014 described the issue as a \u201ccrisis\u201d of representation.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth of independent voters has really accelerated so much over the past 20 years,\u201d Gruber said in an interview with the DP. \u201cCourts haven’t really had an opportunity to look at the impact of that in the context of principles such as equal rights and voting rights more generally.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Gruber highlighted that litigation has historically played a vital role in expanding ballot access, noting that many landmark voting rights laws in the United States were born out of courtroom battles. He additionally pushed back against common critiques of open primaries \u2014 such as concerns over diluted party ideology or strategic crossover voting \u2014 dismissing them as fundamentally undemocratic.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about voting rights in this country,\u00a0 we don\u2019t ask about the impact of that vote,\u201d Gruber said. \u201cThe very right to vote is the highest good we can aspire to in a democracy, and we would never ask those questions of any other group that’s denied the franchise.”\n<\/p>\n

He added that a \u201cpositive decision\u201d in favor of the \u201cfundamental right\u201d for independents \u201cwould be impactful, not just in Pennsylvania, but around the country.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The lawsuit comes as various student organizations across the state mobilize in support of election reform. Harry Patton Hou, a Swarthmore College graduate and co-founder of Students for Ballot PA, wrote in a statement to the DP that his group has played \u201can important role in moving bills out of the House State Government Committee\u201d and hopes to continue that momentum this fall.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung voters have a tendency to identify as independents,\u201d Hou wrote. \u201c[Students for Ballot PA] represents over a dozen colleges across the Commonwealth, meets regularly to discuss election law, and plans projects to advance bi-partisan legislation through the state legislature.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Still, not all experts agree that allowing for increased primary participation will result in substantive political change. Penn political science professor Matthew Levendusky warned against overestimating the initiative\u2019s impacts.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a tremendous amount of ink spilled about the consequences of primaries, and most of the effects are null \u2014 that is, the type of primary has very little effect on policy\/outcomes\/etc.,\u201d Levendusky wrote in a statement to the DP. \u201cReformers always want there to be \u2018one quick fix\u2019 to polarization, but it doesn\u2019t work that way.\u201d\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tSign up for our newsletter<\/p>\n

Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne might prefer open primaries on a normative argument,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut substantively, it is very unlikely to make much difference.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State wrote to the DP that the office is \u201caware of the lawsuit filed and still reviewing the petition.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

If the state Supreme Court declines to take up the case, petitioners say they plan to refile in Commonwealth Court and continue advocacy through the legislature and local communities.<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation<\/a> to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.<\/p>\n

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