Think You’re Ready to Vote in Pennsylvania’s Primary on May 21st? First, Let’s Talk About Cross-Filing.

When I moved to Pennsylvania, I became aware of a number of strange customs in the Keystone State: First, people ate pretzels for breakfast here. Pretzels! For breakfast. They also sold something called water ice that was neither water nor ice. Here’s another weird thing I discovered (only after voting for the wrong candidates for many years, I’m sure): Republicans showed up as Democrats and Democrats as Republicans on primary ballots, a provision known in election law as cross-filing.

So what is cross-filing and why do we need to talk about it?

Cross-filing is when a candidate runs for the nomination of multiple parties in a primary election. By cross-filing, the candidate would like to win not only the nomination of their own party, but the nomination of another party, too, thereby eliminating the opposition and running unopposed in the November election for all the marbles.

In Pennsylvania, only candidates for school boards and judgeships can cross-file, so don’t expect Donald Trump showing up on your Democratic primary ballot for President on April 28, 2020. The logic behind the decision to allow school board members and judges to cross-file is based on the belief that those positions are non-partisan and political affiliation should not be a factor in deciding those elections.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be. As we know, in the hyper partisan environment we find ourselves in today when even deciding where to eat lunch (Does that fast food restaurant support LGBTQ rights? Did that sandwich shop donate to the “wrong” candidate?) becomes fraught with political consequences, who sits on our school boards and passes judgement on us suddenly doesn’t seem so non-partisan anymore (if it ever was).

The fact is, school boards make partisan decisions all the time. Do you want climate science taught as part of the school curriculum? How about sex education? How about the book with the “N” word in it — should that be in the school library? Should we add special education staff or should we spend that money on armed security officers to patrol the hallways?

Likewise, judges decide on partisan lines. If you don’t think so, why do we battle so much over United States Supreme Court nominations?

Perhaps by now I’ve convinced you that school boards and judgeships are, indeed, partisan positions (even though they’re not supposed to be), and perhaps now you also understand why cross-filing is such a problem: if the same candidate shows up on the Democratic primary ballot and also on the Republican primary ballot, how can voters know their positions on the issues? Plenty of voters walk into the voting booth with limited knowledge of the candidates and base their vote on party affiliation and the generally understood positions of that political party: a Democrat is probably going to think one way on jail time for minor drug infractions; a Republican is probably going to think another way. With cross-filing, you can’t even guess at a candidate’s views.

So what’s a poor voter to do, with this confusing cross-filing thing, short of staying up all night studying the position papers of all the announced candidates? Don’t worry; I’m here to help. Here’s a few things you can do:

• Ask the candidate, “What’s your party registration?” The party a candidate belongs to can tell you a lot (but not everything) about where that candidate stands on issues. Party registration is a matter of public record, so if a candidate is less than forthcoming about which party they belong to, it’s an easy enough thing to find out on your own.
• Check the candidate’s endorsements. If a particular party or politicians from that party endorsed the candidate, that means something.
• Find out the candidate’s positions on stuff that’s important to you. Every candidate doesn’t always support the positions of the national party. In addition, there may be local issues that could determine how you cast your vote.

Thanks for talking with me about cross-filing! Remember, the Pennsylvania primary is on May 21 this year. In the meantime, enjoy a water ice and a pretzel. Even for breakfast.