Results Revealed For Special Horsham Primary 2026 Referendum

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — A special referendum question on Tuesday's primary election ballot has been approved by voters.

Residents gave 67 percent approval to the ballot question to update the township's charter, according to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

With 100 percent of the township's 18 precincts reporting, 3,095 residents voted for the charter changes as opposed to 1,494 votes against the measure.

Voter turnout was 23.34 percent for Tuesday's primary election.

The referendum was for approving updates to the Township’s Home Rule Charter.

The current charter was written in 1974 and adopted on January 6, 1975.

Over the last 51 years, state and federal laws and case law have overridden some sections.

In 2024, township staff recommended bringing the charter up to date, and it received bipartisan approval; however, some other matters took priority and delayed the referendum until now.

The update modernizes an outdated document, strengthens transparency, and reflects current laws.

There are no additions, except for term limits allowing an elected official to only serve for two terms (8 years).

There were eight updates proposed, with some examples including gender-neutral pronouns rather than using ‘man’ throughout the charter; to align advertising requirements with state law, allowing more transparency; to make obsolete taxation align with the state taxing laws; to change the term ‘District Justice’ to ‘Magisterial District Judge’; as well as a few others.