| State | VAP | # Candidates | TBD | TBD |
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Only 1.3% of all eligible Pennsylvania voters cast ballots in primaries that effectively decided 83% of the state's U.S. representatives.
So far only 3.1% of all eligible Pennsylvania voters have cast ballots in primaries that will effectively decide 82% of the state's U.S. representatives.
That’s because gerrymandering and partisan self-sorting have created “safe seats” in which the winner of the primary is all but guaranteed to win the general election. The result? A small, unrepresentative group of Pennsylvania voters determine the outcome of the majority of the state’s elections.
It’s only going to get worse in 2022. This cycle, the primaries in Pennsylvania will effectively determine the outcome in 14 of 17 (82%) of the state’s Congressional districts making the primary election the only election that matters in most of the state.
We can solve the primary problem by replacing taxpayer-funded partisan primaries with a single, nonpartisan primary open to all voters and all candidates. Four states have already done just that.
Candidates are rewarded for representing all of their constituents, every voice is heard, and all votes matter.
The Primary Problem report uses new data and aggregates existing research to identify what's wrong with our primary system and how it can be fixed to put voters first.
