PRINTER'S NO. 1845
No. 1511 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY CALTAGIRONE, BASTIAN, BELFANTI, BOYD, COSTA,
FABRIZIO, GODSHALL, GRUCELA, HARRIS, M. KELLER, W. KELLER,
KIRKLAND, LEACH, McILHATTAN, McILHINNEY, NAILOR, PALLONE,
PISTELLA, PRESTON, SAINATO, SATHER, B. SMITH, STERN,
TANGRETTI, THOMAS, TIGUE, WANSACZ AND YOUNGBLOOD, MAY 3, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MAY 3, 2005
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2 "An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3 special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4 primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5 and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6 imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7 courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8 imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9 revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10 repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11 elections," further providing for nominations.
12 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
13 hereby enacts as follows:
14 Section 1. Section 951(e) of the act of June 3, 1937
15 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,
16 amended February 13, 1998 (P.L.72, No.18), is amended to read:
17 Section 951. Nominations by Political Bodies.--* * *
18 (e) There shall be appended to each nomination paper offered
19 for filing an affidavit of each candidate nominated therein,
20 stating--(1) the election district in which he resides; (2) the
21 name of the office for which he consents to be a candidate; (3)
1 that he is eligible for such office; (4) that he will not
2 knowingly violate any provision of this act, or of any law
3 regulating and limiting election expenses, and prohibiting
4 corrupt practices in connection therewith; (5) that his name has
5 not been presented as a candidate by nomination petitions for
6 any public office to be voted for at the [ensuing] primary
7 election in the year in which the nomination paper is being
8 filed, nor has he been nominated by any other nomination papers
9 filed for any such office; (6) that in the case where he is a
10 candidate for election at a general or municipal election, he
11 was not a registered and enrolled member of a party thirty (30)
12 days before the primary held prior to the general or municipal
13 election in that same year; (7) that, in the case where he is a
14 candidate for election at a special election, he is not a
15 registered and enrolled member of a party.
16 Section 2. Section 976 of the act, amended July 28, 1941
17 (P.L.526, No.213) and February 19, 1986 (P.L.29, No.11) and
18 repealed in part April 28, 1978 (P.L.202, No.53), is amended to
19 read:
20 Section 976. Examination of Nomination Petitions,
21 Certificates and Papers; Return of Rejected Nomination
22 Petitions, Certificates and Papers.--When any nomination
23 petition, nomination certificate or nomination paper is
24 presented in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth or
25 of any county board of elections for filing within the period
26 limited by this act, it shall be the duty of the said officer or
27 board to examine the same. No nomination petition, nomination
28 paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed
29 if--(a) it contains material errors or defects apparent on the
30 face thereof, or on the face of the appended or accompanying
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1 affidavits; or (b) it contains material alterations made after
2 signing without the consent of the signers; or (c) it does not
3 contain a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
4 Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the
5 county board of elections, although not hereby required so to
6 do, may question the genuineness of any signature or signatures
7 appearing thereon, and if he or it shall thereupon find that any
8 such signature or signatures are not genuine, such signature or
9 signatures shall be disregarded in determining whether the
10 nomination petition, nomination paper or nomination certificate
11 contains a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
12 or (d) in the case of nomination petitions, if nomination
13 petitions have been filed for printing the name of the same
14 person for the same office, except the office of judge of a
15 court of common pleas, the Philadelphia Municipal Court or the
16 Traffic Court of Philadelphia, or the office of school director
17 in districts where that office is elective or the office of
18 justice of the peace upon the official ballot of more than one
19 political party; or (e) in the case of nomination papers, if the
20 candidate named therein has filed a nomination petition for any
21 public office for the [ensuing] primary election in the year in
22 which the nomination paper is being filed, or has been nominated
23 for any such office by nomination papers previously filed; or
24 (f) if the nomination petitions or papers are not accompanied by
25 the filing fee or certified check required for said office; or
26 (g) in the case of nomination papers, the appellation set forth
27 therein is identical with or deceptively similar to the words
28 used by any existing party or by any political body which has
29 already filed nomination papers for the same office, or if the
30 appellation set forth therein contains part of the name, or an
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1 abbreviation of the name or part of the name of an existing
2 political party, or of a political body which has already filed
3 nomination papers for the same office. The invalidity of any
4 sheet of a nomination petition or nomination paper shall not
5 affect the validity of such petition or paper if a sufficient
6 petition or paper remains after eliminating such invalid sheet.
7 The action of said officer or board in refusing to receive and
8 file any such nomination petition, certificate or paper, may be
9 reviewed by the court upon an application to compel its
10 reception as of the date when it was presented to the office of
11 such officer or board: Provided, however, That said officer or
12 board shall be entitled to a reasonable time in which to examine
13 any petitions, certificates or papers, and to summon and
14 interrogate the candidates named therein, or the persons
15 presenting said petitions, certificates or papers, and his or
16 their retention of same for the purpose of making such
17 examination or interrogation shall not be construed as an
18 acceptance or filing.
19 Upon completion of any examination, if any nomination
20 petition, certificate or paper is found to be defective, it
21 shall forthwith be rejected and returned to the candidate or one
22 of the candidates named therein, together with a statement of
23 the reasons for such rejection:
24 Provided further, That no nomination petition, nomination
25 paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed,
26 if the political party or political body referred to therein
27 shall be composed of a group of electors whose purposes or aims,
28 or one of whose purposes or aims, is the establishment, control,
29 conduct, seizure or overthrow of the Government of the
30 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States of America by
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1 the use of force, violence, military measure or threats of one
2 or more of the foregoing. The authority to reject such
3 nomination petition, paper or certificate for this reason shall,
4 when filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, be vested in
5 a committee composed of the Governor, the Attorney General and
6 the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and when filed with any
7 county board of elections shall be vested in such board. If in
8 such case the committee or board, as the case may be, shall
9 conclude that the acceptance of such nomination petition, paper
10 or certificate should be refused, it shall within two days of
11 the filing of such nomination petition, paper or certificate fix
12 a place and a time five days in advance for hearing the matter,
13 and notice thereof shall be given to all parties affected
14 thereby. At the time and place so fixed the committee or board,
15 as the case may be, shall hear testimony, but shall not be bound
16 by technical rules of evidence. The testimony presented shall be
17 stenographically recorded and made a part of the record of the
18 committee or board. Within two days after such hearing the
19 committee or board, if satisfied upon competent evidence that
20 the said nomination petition, paper or certificate is not
21 entitled to be accepted and filed, it shall announce its
22 decision and immediately notify the parties affected thereby.
23 Failure to announce decision within two days after such hearing
24 shall be conclusive that such nomination petition, paper or
25 certificate has been accepted and filed. The decision of said
26 committee or board in refusing to accept and file such
27 nomination petition, paper or certificate may be reviewed by the
28 court upon an application to compel its reception as of the date
29 when presented to the Secretary of the Commonwealth or such
30 board. The application shall be made within two days of the time
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1 when such decision is announced. If the application is properly
2 made, any judge of said court may fix a time and place for
3 hearing the matter in dispute, of which notice shall be served
4 with a copy of said application upon the Secretary of the
5 Commonwealth or the county board of elections, as the case may
6 be. At the time so fixed, the court, or any judge thereof
7 assigned for the purpose, shall hear the case de novo. If after
8 such hearing the said court shall find that the decision of the
9 committee or the board was erroneous, it shall issue its mandate
10 to the committee or board to correct its decision and to accept
11 and file the nomination paper, petition or certificate. From any
12 decision of the court an appeal may be taken [within two days]
13 after the entry thereof. It shall be the duty of the said court
14 to fix the hearing and to announce its decision within such
15 period of time as will permit the Secretary of the Commonwealth
16 or the county board of elections to permit the names of the
17 candidates affected by the court's decision to be printed on the
18 ballot, if the court should so determine.
19 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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