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Posted on 08/29/2023 10:37:24 AM PDT by lightman
Two bills that would move up Pennsylvania’s presidential primary election on the calendar will go before the House State Government Committee soon, its chairman said Monday.
“The democratic process is one of the cornerstones of our nation, and it’s our duty to ensure that the voices of all Pennsylvanians are heard,” said state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre County, the committee’s chairman, in a statement.
Proponents have long wanted to push the state’s presidential primary date from its current slot as the fourth Tuesday in April, arguing that it’s usually too late in the process to be relevant.
Right now, Pennsylvania’s presidential primary is scheduled for April 23, 2024, by which time more than two-thirds of states will have held a primary or caucus.
House Bill 1634, introduced by Philadelphia Democratic Reps. Malcolm Kenyatta and Jared Solomon, would set the state’s presidential primary on the first Tuesday in April, which would be April 2, 2024.
“This not only gives Pennsylvanians a greater voice in national politics but also starts the petition process on January 2, after the holiday season, allowing for a more family-friendly and inclusive timeline.” Conklin said.
Kenyatta told PennLive that Senate Bill 224, the bill introduced by Sens. David Argall, R-Schuylkill County, and Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, that the committee will also consider, would set the primary date too early in March and require the petition process to start the day after Christmas.
In the joint statement, Kenyatta said he was pleased to see that his bill has bipartisan support.
“Pennsylvania is a critical battleground nationally, and we deserve to be heard earlier in the process,” he said. “We also need to be respectful of the Passover holiday.”
In 2024, the major Jewish holiday lasts from April 22 to April 30.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has stated his desire to change the primary date to make Pennsylvania’s more relevant and avoid a conflict with Passover.
“Pennsylvania is a pivotal battleground state and moving up the primary election will provide Pennsylvanians the political weight we deserve by giving us a voice earlier in the process,” Solomon said. “At the same time, Jewish Pennsylvanians shouldn’t have to choose between celebrating Passover and going to the polls.”
Kenyatta added that April 2 is also the presidential primary date for Wisconsin, “another battleground,” and neighboring Delaware and New York.
Last month, Secretary of State Al Schmidt, who oversees elections in Pennsylvania, expressed his concerns that counties might not have enough time to prepare for an earlier presidential primary if lawmakers wait too long to approve it.
Not a bright move.
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It’s a cold war of primary date escalations.
If the rats are pushing this it’s nothing good.
I get the idea that candidates will have to run national primary campaigns, but there are methods to do that without big donor money. Quite honestly, any candidate that is taking money from big donors already have a strike against him.
I was just thinking the same thing. I remember another state talking about moving THEIRS up, and getting told by some committee that they couldn’t do that, or that they would lose legitimacy of it, or something, as they have to protect those early primaries.
How the Demoncrats targeted the swing state of Pennsylvania and gave it’s electoral votes to Basement Biden.
“Fourteen months ago in the state of Pennsylvania, if you sent in a ballot with a signature that didn’t match the signature that they had on file, that would be discarded, if it was counted, that would be criminal fraud. Fourteen months ago in the state of Pennsylvania, if you sent in a ballot beyond election day, it wouldn’t be counted, if it was, that would be fraud. If you sent in a ballot without a postal date stamped on it, it wouldn’t be counted, and if it was, that would be fraud. Or if you sent in a ballot where they couldn’t tell what the date was, if there was a smudge on the ink, it wouldn’t be counted, and if it was counted, that would be fraud,” Levin said. “All of those ballots today count. They were all counted in Pennsylvania because of unconstitutional and illegal changes that were made by officials quote, unquote, ‘officially,’ by individuals in Pennsylvania.”
I must say Hillary Clinton when Bill first became president held secret meetings to figure out how to “fix” (damage?) US health care.
The Republicans could have pre-empted Obama care in Bush’s first term, but I guess we were all distracted by terrorism...
I am still annoyed by all this.
“...Jewish Pennsylvanians shouldn’t have to choose between celebrating Passover and going to the polls...”
And why can’t they do both? It’s not as if they actually worship the God of Abraham anyway since most of them are democrats. /spit
It becomes a one-up game.
You look at other state primaries and compare yourself to theirs. When you move earlier, someone else is at the tail and and then they react by going early.
Before long, we can have the mid-term elections and the major primaries for two years later in the same vote.
If Joe Biden is going to be the Democrat nominee, why would they care when the primary is?
Biden won’t be the nominee in 2024. That is already decided and the candidate is already chosen.
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