Primary Elections

The Democratic and Republican parties have agreed to use the Pennsylvania election system to run their own elections.  This is called a primary election and is used by the parties to select people to be on the ballot in November.  Because both the Republican and Democratic parties have agreed to use the infrastructure of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for their own private elections, they must abide by the rules set up by the Secretary of State.  These rules are effectively equal to the rules for the general election.

Since the primary election is a party election, only party members may vote.  This requires two different ballots on any primary election day, one for each party.  

Sometimes, the PA Legislature decides to put decisions up for a vote during the primary election. If this happens, questions are added to the Democratic and Republican ballots.  ALSO, since these decisions are open for all registered voters to weigh-in on, there is a THIRD ballot printed with only the decisions (also known as questions) for those registered voters who are not Republican or Democratic to use to vote on those decisions.  So if there are questions on the ballot, all registered voters can come to the polls on a primary day and vote (or vote by mail).

Pennsylvania traditionally has had their primary election in May of each year except in presidential election years when it is usually earlier in the year. 

For more on what a primary is see this link https://www.vote.pa.gov/About-Elections/Pages/Types%20of%20Elections.aspx