Polling places inside synagogues are being moved for Pennsylvania’s April primary during Passover

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Some of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties are relocating polling places out of synagogues and other Jewish buildings because the Legislature deadlocked last year over proposals to move next month’s primary election so it would not fall on the first day of Passover.

In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, election officials relocated 16 polling places from six locations — synagogues as well as a Jewish community center. The primary election is April 23.

The number of polling locations moving as a result of the holiday is a fraction of the total, said Allegheny County spokesperson Abigail Gardner, and all are expected to revert to their former spots in November.

“It is typical that we have to find new polling places every year — with more than 1,300 precincts, it is a natural occurrence that any number of them are changing ownership, closing, not available due to a special event, etc.,” Gardner said Friday. Voters in affected precincts will get letters and signs will be posted at the former locations with directions to the new sites.

Polling locations were also shifted in the Philadelphia area. A 2019 study found the city and its four “collar” counties together had nearly 200,000 Jewish households that comprised about 450,000 people.

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