Humorist Will Rogers famously said, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”
For some 1.4 million registered Pennsylvania voters, that is literally true. They are registered, not as Democrats, Republicans, or Libertarians, but as “No Affiliation.” And as a result, they are not allowed to participate in either party’s primary elections.
David Thornburgh wants to change that.
The son of former Gov. Dick Thornburgh (R) and the former CEO of Philadelphia’s good government group, the Committee of 70, Thornburgh is now the head of the nonprofit group PA Ballot Action. He’s teamed up with media personality Michael Smirconish and two other independent voters to file a “King’s Bench” petition with the state Supreme Court, asking the high court to change Pennsylvania’s primary election system.
“I have nothing against primary elections in general,” said Thornburgh during a DVJournal podcast interview. “I just want everybody to be able to vote in them.”
Thornburgh noted that Pennsylvania is one of the last nine remaining states to hold closed primaries. In a closed primary system, only party members are eligible to participate in the election to select the party’s nominees. He said the law was passed 88 years ago, when independent voters made up only 3 percent of the electorate, and was aimed at individuals. Now it’s closer to one in five.
Their main argument to the Supreme Court is that closed primaries are unconstitutional.
Thornburg rejected the argument that taking away the party’s right to control access to its primary ballots would further weaken political parties.
“Independent voters are the fastest growing part of the electorate in Pennsylvania,” Thornburg said. He believes the part that embraces independent voters would gain the upper hand.
He also argued that the primaries cost the taxpayers $75 million, so if the parties want them to remain closed to independent voters, they should pay for them, not the general public.
“If I’m forced to pay for that through my tax dollars, I think I should be able to participate,” said Thornburgh. And many races, such as those for Philadelphia district attorney or mayor, are decided in the primary, as Philadelphia voters are heavily Democratic.
Thornburgh said their legal petition argues that the current system is unconstitutional.
“Our assertion is the Pennsylvania constitution gives us the right as independent voters to vote in every election,” he said. As for the Supreme Court, “We need to convince them that excluding independent voters is not just unfair in a vague moral sense. It violates the Pennsylvania Constitution.”
“It is not fair, it is not right,” said Shanin Specter, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs. “It is a violation of the open and free elections clause of the Constitution, written in 1776.”
Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president of the nonprofit Open Primaries Education Fund, said his group is dedicated to opening primaries to independent voters nationwide, calling it “a voting rights crisis.”
“Thirty million independent voters around the country are shut out (of primaries),” Gruber said. “We cannot continue to fund primary elections that shut out historic levels of voters.”
Before there were primaries, “party leaders and special interests (went) into a backroom” to select the candidates. Primaries were a democratic reform “invented not by the parties but by the people.”
However, Temple University political science Professor Robin Kolodny believes the petition is unlikely to succeed.
“Primaries are not technically elections. They are nominating contests. The people who win get the right to be the party’s nominee in the general election, where we do choose people to do jobs (like be the governor),” said Kolodny.
“It has always been my position that primaries are the nomination, not the actual election, and it would not make sense to have other parties nominating each other’s candidates. However, I am always open to giving legislation a fresh set of eyes,” said Republican House Leader Jesse Topper.
“This is a legislative matter that should be proposed, debated, and decided by the legislature,” said GOP Chairman Greg Rothman. “The Republican Party of Pennsylvania respects the legislative process and believes any changes to our primary system should be made through open, thoughtful deliberation by elected lawmakers.”
State Rep. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) has introduced open primary bills before. His most recent bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia), was voted out of the House State Government Committee in May.
“As one of the last states in the country with closed primaries, opening up our primary election system is the voting rights issue of our time here in Pennsylvania,” said Solomon. “This historic lawsuit takes seriously this fundamental right to vote and gives voice to the 1.4 million Pennsylvania voters whose tax dollars pay for elections they are shut out of.”
Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) declined to comment, as did Pennsylvania Democratic Party officials.
“Pennsylvania has had a bipartisan consensus for some time that closed primaries are better,” said Kolodny. “Our state does have fewer registered independents than other states do because of the closed primary. The parties would say that it is easy for those suing, ‘Just pick a party!’ They would argue that voters are the ones taking themselves out of the process by not picking a team.”