The Pennsylvania Primary Election Has Been Postponed until June 2

           The 2020 Pennsylvania Primary, originally scheduled for April 21, has been postponed until Tuesday, June 2 by a bill approved by the Republican-led General Assembly and signed into law by the Democratic Governor because of the coronavirus pandemic.

            This year, all of the election reforms passed last year that I had posted about in my post Conservative Analysis of the Pennsylvania Election Reform of 2019 from November,  https://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2019/11/conservative-analysis-of-pennsylvania.html, are now in effect, including a provision allowing no-excuse voting by mail.  Although there are numerous concerns about voting by mail, including the reliability of mail delivery, absent adequate safety precautions, a safer option than in-person voting is necessary to protect poll workers and voters from contagion, and the law permits the drop-off of the ballot at the polling place on Election Day, starting at 7:00 AM.  The deadline for drop-off has been extended to 8:00 PM, when the polls close.

            On the ballot are the major parties’ nominations for President, Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the party’s Conventions, statewide row offices, as well as seats in the United States House of Representatives, State Senate and House.  Democratic and Republic State Committee members will also be elected.

           Ballot questions will be voted on in some municipalities, including five proposed amendments to the City of Reading’s Home Rule Charter, as proposed by the Charter Review Commission I chaired.  Those who are not a member of either major party may not vote for nominations for offices or party office elections, but may vote on the referendums.