PRINTER'S NO. 2150
No. 1688 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY BARRAR, KILLION, BALDWIN, RAYMOND AND BOYD,
JUNE 13, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 13, 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 canvassing of official
12 absentee ballots.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby enacts as follows:
15 Section 1. Section 1308(a) of the act of June 3, 1937
16 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,
17 amended December 11, 1968 (P.L.1183, No.375), is amended and the
18 section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
19 Section 1308. Canvassing of Official Absentee Ballots.--
20 (a) The county boards of election, upon receipt of official
21 absentee ballots in such envelopes, shall safely keep the same
22 in sealed or locked containers until they distribute same to the
1 appropriate local election districts in a manner prescribed by
2 the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
3 The county board of elections shall then distribute the
4 absentee ballots, unopened, to the absentee voter's respective
5 election district concurrently with the distribution of the
6 other election supplies. Absentee ballots shall be canvassed
7 immediately and continuously without interruption until
8 completed after the close of the polls on the day of the
9 election in each election district. The results of the canvass
10 of the absentee ballots shall then be included in and returned
11 to the county board with the returns of that district. [No]
12 Except as provided in subsection (g), no absentee ballot shall
13 be counted which is received in the office of the county board
14 of election later than five o'clock P. M. on the Friday
15 immediately preceding the primary or November election.
16 * * *
17 (g) (1) An absentee ballot cast by any absentee elector as
18 defined in section 1301(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f), who is
19 outside of the territorial limits of the several states of the
20 United States and the District of Columbia, which is received in
21 the office of the county board of elections after five o'clock
22 P. M. on the Friday immediately preceding the election and no
23 later than five o'clock P. M. on the seventh day following an
24 election shall be canvassed in accordance with this subsection
25 if the absentee ballot is postmarked no later than the day
26 immediately preceding the election.
27 (2) The county board of elections shall meet on the eighth
28 day following the election to canvass the absentee ballots
29 received under this subsection. One authorized representative of
30 each candidate in an election and one representative from each
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1 political party shall be permitted to remain in the room in
2 which the absentee ballots are canvassed. Representatives shall
3 be permitted to challenge any absentee elector in accordance
4 with the provisions of paragraph (3).
5 (3) When the county board meets to canvass absentee ballots
6 under paragraph (2) the board shall examine the declaration on
7 the envelope of each ballot not set aside under subsection (d)
8 and shall compare the information thereon with that contained in
9 the "Registered Absentee Voters File," the absentee voters' list
10 and/or the "Military Veterans and Emergency Civilians Absentee
11 Voters File," whichever is applicable. If the county board is
12 satisfied that the declaration is sufficient and the information
13 contained in the "Registered Absentee Voters File," the absentee
14 voters' list and/or the "Military Veterans and Emergency
15 Civilians Absentee Voters File" verifies his right to vote, the
16 county board shall announce the name of the elector and shall
17 give any candidate representative or party representative
18 present an opportunity to challenge any absentee elector upon
19 the ground or grounds (i) that the absentee elector is not a
20 qualified elector; or (ii) that the absentee elector was within
21 the municipality of his residence on the day of the primary or
22 election during the period the polls were open, except where he
23 was in the military service or except in the case where his
24 ballot was obtained for the reason that he was unable to appear
25 personally at the polling place because of illness or physical
26 disability; or (iii) that the absentee elector was able to
27 appear personally at the polling place on the day of the primary
28 or election during the period the polls were open in the case
29 his ballot was obtained for the reason that he was unable to
30 appear personally at the polling place because of illness or
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1 physical disability. Upon challenge of any absentee elector, as
2 set forth herein, the board shall mark "challenged" on the
3 envelope together with the reasons therefor, and the same shall
4 be set aside unopened pending final determination of the
5 challenge according to the procedure described in paragraph (5).
6 (4) All absentee ballots not challenged for any of the
7 reasons provided in paragraph (3) shall be counted and included
8 with the returns of the applicable election district, as
9 follows. The county board shall open the envelope of every
10 unchallenged absentee elector in such manner as not to destroy
11 the declaration executed thereon. If any of the envelopes on
12 which are printed, stamped or endorsed the words "Official
13 Absentee Ballot" contain any extraneous marks or identifying
14 symbols the envelopes and the ballots contained therein shall be
15 set aside and declared void. The county board shall then break
16 the seals of such envelopes, remove the ballots and record the
17 votes.
18 (5) With respect to the challenged ballots, they shall be
19 placed unopened in a secure, safe and sealed container in the
20 custody of the county board until it shall fix a time and place
21 for a formal hearing of all such challenges and notice shall be
22 given where possible to all absentee electors thus challenged
23 and to every individual who made a challenge. The time for the
24 hearing shall not be later than five (5) days after the date of
25 the challenge. On the day fixed for said hearing, the county
26 board shall proceed without delay to hear said challenges and,
27 in hearing the testimony, the county board shall not be bound by
28 the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence. The testimony presented
29 shall be stenographically recorded and made part of the record
30 of the hearing.
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1 (6) The decision of the county board in upholding or
2 dismissing any challenge may be reviewed by the court of common
3 pleas of the county upon a petition filed by any person
4 aggrieved by the decision of the county board. The appeal shall
5 be taken, within two (2) days after the decision was made,
6 whether the decision was reduced to writing or not, to the court
7 of common pleas setting forth the objections to the county
8 board's decision and praying for an order reversing the
9 decision.
10 (7) Pending the final determination of all appeals, the
11 county board shall suspend any action in canvassing and
12 computing all challenged ballots received under this subsection
13 irrespective of whether or not appeal was taken from the county
14 board's decision. Upon completion of the computation of the
15 returns of the county, the votes cast upon the challenged
16 official absentee ballots that have been finally determined to
17 be valid shall be added to the other votes cast within the
18 county.
19 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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