HARRISBURG, Pa. — With this year’s primary elections just one week away, Pennsylvania lawmakers are already looking ahead toward the 2024 presidential primaries with an eye on an earlier date.
In the calendar of presidential primaries, Pennsylvania’s current date of April 23, 2024 falls after 38 other states have already held their primaries.
State lawmakers say an earlier date would give Pennsylvania voters more influence over the ultimate nominee for each party.
“It would make Pennsylvania matter in the presidential election. Because right now, by the time the primary gets to Pennsylvania, it’s already been decided by other states,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland).
Lawmakers have also cited the Jewish holiday of Passover as another reason to move the primary, as it falls on the first full day of Passover.
“It’s Passover next year during the primaries, so we need to move it anyway, so let’s move it to a place where it really counts,” Ward said.
The measure has broad bipartisan support. Ward says she has already spoken with Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, as well as Gov. Josh Shapiro, who all support the legislation.
“I think we all want to make sure that Pennsylvania counts next year,” Ward said.
The new primary date is still up for debate, as candidates start collecting ballot petition signatures 13 weeks before the primary. A late March date would mean campaign workers would need to start knocking on doors during the Christmas holiday period.
For that reason, lawmakers are considering a date between the last Tuesday in March and the first Tuesday in April.
“We have to be thoughtful in terms of what the 13-week lookback would be, with regard to beginning campaigns, when petitions would be circulated,” said State Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny).
Both sides agree, however, that the measure should be passed independently from more partisan election-related goals, such as stricter voter ID requirements and earlier processing of mail-in ballots, known as pre-canvassing.
“There are other measures that are election-related measures, like pre-canvassing, dropbox security and the likes, that really need to be done, quite frankly, separate and apart from what we’re trying to do with the election,” Costa said.
The measure could be passed this spring or in the fall.