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Party labels in Pennsylvania school board elections
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| Pennsylvania overview: • Election dates: Off cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
School board elections in Pennsylvania are partisan, which means political party labels do appear on the ballot for school board candidates. School board candidates are nominated in closed partisan primary elections to appear on the general election ballot.
See law: State Statute 1937 Act 320
There were 499 public school districts in Pennsylvania with a total of 4,491 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 2,685 schools serving 1,566,855 students.
Pennsylvania is one of four states with state laws providing for partisan school board elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2022. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Pennsylvania state law governing party labels on the ballot for school board elections
School board elections in Pennsylvania are partisan, which means political party labels do appear on the ballot for school board candidates. School board candidates are nominated in closed partisan primary elections to appear on the general election ballot. Pennsylvania has closed primaries, which means that voters have to be affiliated with a political party in order to participate in primary elections. State statute allows school board candidates, among candidates for other offices, to file for nomination by multiple political parties. This practice, which is known as cross-filing, allows candidates to appear on both the Democratic primary election ballot and the Republican primary election ballot.
See law: State Statute 1937 Act 320
Examples of how school board candidates appear on the ballot in Pennsylvania
Below are excerpts from an odd-year Republican primary sample ballot, from an odd-year Democratic primary sample ballot, and an odd-year general election sample ballot. Each excerpt shows examples of school board races and other local and judicial office elections, including examples of candidates that cross-filed for both major parties.
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How does Pennsylvania compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
