Conestoga Student Gets a Lesson in Pennsylvania's Complex Primary Voting Rules

Layla Tavanga turned 18 in early March. Excited to vote for the first time, the Conestoga High School senior registered as an independent right after her birthday and arrived at her Easttown Precinct polling place in the lobby of Beaumont Elementary School Tuesday afternoon to vote.

Tavagna, like many voters in Tredyffrin and Easttown, was a little unclear about exactly who she could vote for under Pennsylvania election law.  It turned out the newly minted voter, one of a handful of registered voters who actually showed up to cast a ballot, could not vote for anyone Tuesday. She discovered that as a registered independent there were no candidates and no issues on the ballot for someone of her political persuasion in Easttown Precinct 1.

"Pennsylvania has a closed primary system," Minority (Democrat) Poll Inspector David Frank explained to the first time voter. That means only voters registered as Democrats can vote in the Democrat primary and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. "You can't vote, it's a stupid Pennsylvania law," one veteran voter explained to the Barnard College-bound Tavagna. Like many far more seasoned voters who came to polling places in Easttown and Tredyffrin Tuesday, Tavagna said she wasn't sure if she could vote because many candidates for school board and other offices were registered in both parties.

Just a few miles away in Tredyffrin (and in the same T/E School District) independents could vote. That's because in addition to the Republican and Democrat primaries, there was a special election being held for a seat on the Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors. Independents who showed up at the polls in Tredyffrin polling places were given a ballot with only one race to vote on. It was the race between Republican incumbent Michael Heaberg and Democrat challenger Molly Duffy. Seems pretty straightforward, right? It is, until registered Republican voters also saw Heaberg on the same ballot running for the same seat in a primary.

"Huh?" was the reaction of more than a few voters outside the Tredyffrin W-5 precinct polling place at the Tredyffrin Municpal Building. Heaberg himself, as well as volunteers from both parties outside and election officials inside, explained that the special election was only to fill the seat until the November election. Heaberg was appointed to the seat left vacant when Warren Kampf was elected as State Representative (R-PA-157).

Heaberg explained to one confused couple that under Pennsylvania law, he was only appointed to the seat until a special election could be held. That special election was Tuesday at the same time, and on the same ballot forms, as the primary election. Win or lose Heaberg told voters he also had to run for the seat in November, thus his name was on the Republican ballot form twice: once for the special election and once for the primary.

To make things even more confusing, Heaberg's name appeared with different candidates, on the same Republican ballot form. The first choice on the ballot was between republican Heaberg and Democrat Molly Duffy in the special election. The last choice on the ballot was for the Republican primary election and voters could pick "no more than two" among the choices of Heaberg and Republican primary candidate Kristen Kirk Maycock. It's really no wonder the ballot in Tredyffrin needed a little explaining to more than a few voters.

In Easttown, registered independent Layla Tavagnar was playing it safe and came to the polls just in case there was someone she could vote for. "I knew about the primaries (and party only voting)," she said, but she came just to be sure there were no races or referendum questions she would be eligible to vote on. At least she showed up, unlike 88 percent of the registered voters in her precinct.

As a young, engaged, independent, college-bound voter it's sure bet Tavagnar will be courted by every candidate in the 2011 general election in November and the 2012 presidential election next year.