Primary elections in Pennsylvania
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Primary elections allow voters to determine which candidates compete in the general election and can be nonpartisan or partisan. In partisan primaries, voters choose the candidates they prefer for a political party to nominate in the general election.
The laws governing primary elections vary from state to state and can even vary within states by locality and political party. For example, only registered party members are allowed to vote in closed primaries, while registered party members and unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote in semi-closed primaries, and all voters are allowed to vote in open primaries.
Primary elections also vary by the way their outcomes are determined. Majority systems require the winning candidate to receive at least fifty percent of the votes cast, while plurality systems do not. In top-two primaries, top-four primaries, and blanket primaries, all candidates are listed on the same ballot, regardless of partisan affiliation.
- BackgroundThe different types of primary election participation models used in the United States, and details about methods to determine the outcomes of primaries.
- Primary election systems used in PennsylvaniaPrimary election systems used in Pennsylvania, including primaries for congressional and state-level offices.
- State legislation and ballot measuresState legislation and ballot measures relevant to primary election policy in Pennsylvania.
Background
In general, there are two broad criteria by which primary elections can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction:
1. Rules of participation: In jurisdictions that conduct partisan primaries, who can vote in a party's primary? Is participation limited to registered party members, or can other eligible voters (such as unaffiliated voters or voters belonging to other parties) participate? In general, there are three basic types of primary election participation models: open primaries, closed primaries, and semi-closed primaries. Several states also use a top-two primary or a variant of that system.
- In closed primaries only registered party members are allowed to vote.
- In semi-closed primaries, registered party members and unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote.
- In open primaries, all voters are allowed to vote.
- In top-two primaries, top-four primaries, and blanket primaries, all candidates are listed on the same ballot, regardless of partisan affiliation and voters may vote for candidates from more than one party.
2. Vote requirements: What share of the total votes cast does a candidate have to receive in order to advance to the general election? Methods for determining primary election outcomes include plurality voting systems ans majority voting systems. Two states, California and Washington, use top-two primaries, while one, Alaska, uses a top-four primary. Both are plurality systems. Maine use ranked-choice voting for some primaries, which is a majority system.
Primary election systems used in Pennsylvania
Congressional and state-level elections
Pennsylvania law stipulates that parties conduct closed primaries, meaning only registered party members can participate in a political party's primary election. Pennsylvania law says: "No elector enrolled and registered as a member of any one particular party shall be allowed to receive or vote the ballot of any other political party at a primary election, and no elector who is not enrolled and registered as a member of some political party shall be permitted to vote at any primary election."[1]
A voter may change their affiliation or affiliate with a party up until the 16th day before a primary and vote in that party's primary. A change in affiliation made on the 15th day before a primary or later does not take effect until after the primary.[2]
The winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if they do not win an outright majority of votes cast.[3]
In 23 states, at least one political party utilizes closed primaries to nominate partisan candidates for congressional and state-level (e.g. state legislators, governors, etc.) offices. In 19 states, at least one party utilizes open primaries to nominate partisan candidates for these offices. In 12 states, at least one party utilizes semi-closed primaries. In 5 states, top-two primaries or a variation are used.[4] These state primaries are a separate entity and are not included in the totals for open, closed, or semi-closed primaries.
The table below lists Pennsylvania offices for which parties must conduct primary elections to nominate their candidates.
| Office | Number of seats |
|---|---|
| Governor of Pennsylvania | 1 |
| Pennsylvania Attorney General | 1 |
| Pennsylvania Treasurer | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State Auditor | 1 |
| State legislators | 253 |
| United States Representatives | 18 |
| United States Senators | 2 |
State legislation and ballot measures
The table below lists bills related to primary elections that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Pennsylvania. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official bill name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Sponsor party
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
Primary systems ballot measures
Since 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked no ballot measures relating to primary elections in Pennsylvania.
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See also
- Election policy in Pennsylvania
- Electoral systems in Pennsylvania
- Voting in Pennsylvania
- Primary election
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ FindLaw, "Pa. Stat. tit. 25, § 299," accessed September 15, 2025
- ↑ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, "How to Update Your Registration," accessed September 5, 2025
- ↑ FindLaw, "Pa. Stat. tit. 25, § 2882," accessed September 15, 2025
- ↑ Top-two primary systems, such as those utilized in California, Nebraska, and Washington, and variations of those systems, such as the top-four system used in Alaska and the majority-vote system used in Louisiana, are sometimes classified as open primary systems because voter participation in such primaries is not tied to partisan affiliation. For the purposes of this article, these primaries are considered to be a separate entity. For more information about top-two primaries and their variations, see this article.
