Senators Laughlin And Boscola Introduce Open Primary Legislation

HARRISBURG – Sens. Dan Laughlin (R-49) and Lisa Boscola (D-18) have introduced legislation to repeal closed primaries and allow registered independent voters who have checked “no affiliation” or “none” on their voter registration form to vote in primary elections. Senate Bill 400 will allow registered voters who are unaffiliated, have no registered party or are registered Independent to cast their vote on either the Republican or Democrat ballot. Voters who are registered with a party will continue to be required to vote on their respective ballots. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, more than 1.28 million registered voters are not currently registered with the largest two political parties, though many of them used to be registered Republican or Democrat. In the Senate, SB 400 has gained bipartisan support.