05/20/2026
The other day, my colleagues and I formally created a Voter Registration Commission, and we are one of two counties in Pennsylvania to do so. Later that day, I spent some time manually reviewing the poll books that are being used in today’s primary election. A sampling of 10% of the poll books was performed to ensure that the poll books were exactly how they should be. I looked through a precinct I am particularly familiar with (New Garden South 2) and the poll books looked just how they should look for a primary election. I checked for party affiliation, signatures, correct alphabetical order, and notations showing whether a voter had already voted by mail or requested a mail-in ballot. I was satisfied with what I saw. Fast forward a few days, and today’s primary seems to be running smoothly.
As a reminder, Pennsylvania has closed primaries, meaning that only voters registered with a major party (the Republican and Democratic Parties) may participate in primaries, unless there is a ballot question or referendum or a special election coinciding with the primary. I was told by staff from the Department of Voter Services that there are no such ballot questions, referenda, or special elections in which independent, unaffiliated, or minor party voters may participate in today in Chester County. For that reason, independents are intentionally left out of the poll books today, but they will be listed in the poll books in the general election this November. There are still just over 2.5 hours left, so if you’re eligible, please come out and vote today.