Strengthening Democracy by Updating Our Primary System

April 15, 2026

by State Rep. Jeremy Shaffer (R-Allegheny County)
The Primary Election is quickly approaching. On May 19, voters will head to the polls to choose who moves on to the November ballot. We like to remind everyone that it’s our responsibility as residents to educate ourselves on the issues and participate in the electoral process.

However, in Pennsylvania, the state’s primary elections are “closed,” meaning only voters registered as Republican or Democrat can take part in choosing their party’s nominee. By doing this, we exclude a growing number of voters.

A recent article showed more than 67,000 residents have added their names to the Pennsylvania voter rolls since September and nearly 70% of them did not choose a party affiliation, leaving them unable to participate in the primary.

Pennsylvania also allows something called cross filing in school board and judicial races, which means some candidates can appear on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots. So even though many voters can’t participate because they didn’t choose a party, some candidates effectively move ahead in the process without being tied to one party.

I’m working in a bipartisan manner on legislation that would allow independents to be able to vote in the primary of their choice. It doesn’t let people cross over into another party’s primary. It only lets independents pick one primary to vote in if they want to be part of the process.

Allowing independents to vote in primaries is just one step I support when it comes to election reform, and we’ll talk about those added steps in the future. No matter what though, it will take collaboration in the House to move this legislation forward. In the meantime, I encourage those of you who are registered as Republicans and Democrats to vote in this primary, and I hope independents will be able to vote in the next one!

Representative Jeremy Shaffer
28th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Andrew Forgotch
717.772.9905
aforgotch@pahousegop.com
RepShafferPA.com / Facebook.com/RepShaffer