Primaries matter for education in Pennsylvania

Christopher Fee writes in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star about the importance of primaries in PA school board races:

If you think primary elections don’t matter all that much, I’m living proof that—at least in school board elections in Pennsylvania—you are quite mistaken.

The primary is coming up in May, and many school board races will be won or lost as a result.

Because candidates for board director can cross-file with both major parties in the primary, those who do so are at a significant advantage in the general election, as in November many voters cast their ballots for candidates according to party affiliation. Even though straight-ticket voting is no longer allowed in Pennsylvania, cross-filed candidates are likely to get substantial party-line votes from both Republicans and Democrats, if only because “school board races can be low-information races,” and often newcomers are entirely unknown.

More importantly, because no party may offer more candidates on its slate than there are seats to be filled, each candidate who successfully cross-files effectively reduces the competition in the general election. 

If there are unfilled party slots after the primary, the parties have the right to fill those with candidates of their choice. But during the primary itself, the people speak, and it actually is one of the few chances we all have to make a real political difference in our local communities. Furthermore, write-in candidates have a real uphill battle, especially since stickers are no longer allowed, “because the ballot-scanning machines cannot read them and may become jammed.”