HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania's presidential primary is scheduled for the first day of Passover next year, potentially disenfranchising observant Jews across the state and giving new urgency to lawmakers hoping to move the state's primary election to earlier in the year.
The primary is scheduled for April 23, 2024, and Passover begins the previous evening. Traditional Jewish law prohibits many regular activities such as driving, writing, working and the use of electricity on the holiday, which is observed for eight days in the United States.
Legislators in Harrisburg have long pushed for Pennsylvania to move its presidential primary earlier in the year so the swing state would have a bigger voice in choosing nominees. Pennsylvania's presidential primary isn't until the fourth Tuesday of April, weeks after most states have finished their primary and the presidential nominees are all but certain. Voters also choose their nominees for U.S. Senate and state House and Senate during presidential primaries.
The scheduling conflict now gives lawmakers an urgency to move the date — and leaves Jewish leaders with a familiar feeling of being overlooked.
Jewish leaders in Philadelphia and Harrisburg realized the potential conflict earlier this year, and alerted Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration, Robin Schatz, director of government affairs at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said. Shapiro, a Democrat, is Pennsylvania's third Jewish governor.
Two Democratic Philadelphia representatives, Reps. Malcolm Kenyatta and Jared Solomon, reintroduced legislation in January to move the date to March 19, 2024, to give Pennsylvania "the political weight it deserves."
Schatz said next year's conflict gives "added impetus to move" the election to earlier in the year, and that she hopes it won't happen again.
She said scheduling a major Pennsylvania election on a day when many observant Jews could not participate "is not a good optic" and marginalizes the group. However, Jewish voters would still be able to vote in advance by mail, she added.
All Pennsylvania voters can choose to vote by mail by using a no-excuse mail ballot. Voters who are unable to go to their polling place on Election Day — as is potentially the case for observant Jewish voters — are also eligible to vote using an absentee ballot.
"We would like to see from this that all religious holidays of importance are looked at on the calendar before dates are made," Schatz added.
Sen. Judy Schwank (D.-Berks) is the cochair of the newly formed Jewish Legislative Caucus that was created to celebrate Jewish culture and heritage, as well as address anti-Semitism and hate in the state. But the scheduling conflict ended up as one of its first acts of business.
State lawmakers from the caucus sent a letter to Acting Secretary of State Al Schmidt earlier this month, asking his agency to begin planning to ensure that Jewish voters are aware of the conflict.
"The preferred course of action would be to reschedule the date," wrote the lawmakers, a group of 22 Democrats who are Jewish or represent districts with large Jewish populations. "However, if this is not possible, we need to explore every option to allow voters of the Jewish faith to vote."
Shapiro supports moving the 2024 primary to ensure that those observing Passover "have every opportunity to exercise their right to vote," said Manuel Bonder, his press secretary.
Schwank said moving the election to earlier in the calendar year "actually works to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians."
"As it is right now, it's so late in the presidential election calendar, it renders us somewhat irrelevant," she added.
Three other states — Maryland, Delaware and Rhode Island — have their presidential primaries scheduled for the same day. Lawmakers in Maryland have introduced legislation to change the date, Jewish Insider first reported.
Rep. Ben Waxman (D.-Philadelphia), who is a member of the Jewish Legislative Caucus, said the conflict shows the value of the new caucus to advocate for the state's Jewish community.
"It's clear that there would be Jewish communities that would not participate potentially on Election Day because it coincided with the holiday," Waxman said. "It just sends a terrible message to schedule an election when there's going to be a big chunk of people who can't participate."
