The Case for Moving the PA Primary Date

Electoral votes declared by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have played a crucial role in determining the winner of the past two presidential elections. In 2024, Pennsylvania must prepare for a smooth election process that ensures all eligible voters can participate — befitting our role as the most critical swing state in the nation and the sixth largest economy in the United States.

That means we must address a hurdle that could prevent this. Next year’s primary election is scheduled for April 23rd, which creates a conflict with the beginning of Passover. This would affect hundreds of thousands of Jewish citizens in Pennsylvania who are voters and poll workers. The scheduling conflict would place increasing strain on our election system and diminish the voice of a significant number of voters in the state during the presidential primary process. Additionally, the current date is weeks after most states have finished their primary and the presidential nominees are all but certain.

Fortunately, there is a legislative movement afoot to move Pennsylvania’s primary election to an earlier date, which would both accommodate this conflict and increase the state’s overall influence in the presidential party nominating process. Senator David Argall (R-Schuylkill) and Senator Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), along with a number of bipartisan cosponsors in the PA House and Senate, have introduced legislation that would shift the state’s primary election date to March 19th. Such a change, however, will compel county and state election officials to make a series of adjustments to their operations.

Join us to learn how you can support this initiative.