PRINTER'S NO. 867
No. 772 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, BAKER, COSTA, ERICKSON, FOLMER, FONTANA,
KASUNIC, MUSTO, ORIE, PILEGGI, PIPPY, RAFFERTY, ROBBINS,
STOUT, TARTAGLIONE, WASHINGTON, WAUGH AND WOZNIAK,
APRIL 20, 2007
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 20, 2007
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 absentee elector files and
12 lists.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby enacts as follows:
15 Section 1. Section 1302.3 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 to
18 read:
19 Section 1302.3. Absentee Electors Files and Lists.--(a) The
20 county board of elections shall maintain at its office a file
21 containing the duplicate absentee voter's temporary registration
22 cards of every registered elector to whom an absentee ballot has
1 been sent. Such duplicate absentee voter's temporary
2 registration cards shall be filed by election districts and
3 within each election district in exact alphabetical order and
4 indexed. The registration cards so filed shall constitute the
5 Registered Absentee Voters File for the Primary or Election of
6 (date of primary or election) and shall be kept on file for a
7 period commencing the Tuesday prior to the day of the primary or
8 election until the day following the primary or election or the
9 day the county board of elections certifies the returns of the
10 primary or election, whichever date is later. Such file shall be
11 open to public inspection at all times subject to reasonable
12 safeguards, rules and regulations.
13 (b) The county board of elections shall post in a
14 conspicuous public place at its office a master list arranged in
15 alphabetical order by election districts setting forth the name
16 and residence, and at primaries, the party enrollment, of [(1)
17 every military elector to whom an absentee ballot is being sent,
18 each such name to be prefixed with an "M";] (2) every bedridden
19 or hospitalized veteran outside the county of his residence who
20 is not registered and to whom an absentee ballot is being sent,
21 each such name to be prefixed with a "V"; and (3) every
22 registered elector who has filed his application for an absentee
23 ballot too late for the extraction of his original registration
24 card and to whom a ballot is being sent and every qualified
25 elector who has filed his application for an absentee ballot and
26 is entitled, under provisions of [the Permanent Registration Law
27 as now or hereinafter enacted by the General Assembly] law, to
28 absentee registration prior to or concurrently with the time of
29 voting, each such name to be prefixed with a "C." This list
30 shall be known as the Military, Veterans and Emergency Civilians
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1 Absentee Voters File for the Primary or Election of (date of
2 primary or election) and shall be posted for a period commencing
3 the Tuesday prior to the day of the primary or election until
4 the eighth day following the primary or election or the day on
5 which the county board of elections certifies the returns of the
6 primary or election, whichever date is later. Such file shall be
7 open to public inspection at all times subject to reasonable
8 safeguards, rules and regulations. [This] Except as provided in
9 subsection (b.1), this posted list shall not contain any
10 military address or references to any military organization.
11 Upon written request, the county board shall furnish a copy of
12 such list to any candidate or party county chairman.
13 (b.1) The county board shall also maintain a list of all
14 absentee ballots which are received from electors qualified in
15 accordance with section 1301(a), (b), (c) and (d) after five
16 o'clock P. M. on the Friday before the election but before eight
17 o'clock P. M. on the day of the election, and those received up
18 to the seventh day following the election and which contain
19 postmarks dated no later than the day preceding the election.
20 This list shall be available for public inspection upon written
21 request at the office of the county board of elections subject
22 to reasonable safeguards, rules and regulations. Upon written
23 request, the county board shall furnish a copy of such list to
24 any candidate or party county chairman.
25 (c) Not less than five days preceding the election, the
26 chief clerk shall prepare a list for each election district
27 showing the names and post office addresses of all voting
28 residents thereof to whom official absentee ballots shall have
29 been issued. Each such list shall be prepared in duplicate,
30 shall be headed "Persons in (give identity of election district)
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1 to whom absentee ballots have been issued for the election of
2 (date of election)," and shall be signed by him not less than
3 four days preceding the election. [He] Except as provided in
4 subsection (b.1), he shall post the original of each such list
5 in a conspicuous place in the office of the county election
6 board and see that it is kept so posted until the close of the
7 polls on election day subject to reasonable safeguards, rules
8 and regulations. He shall cause the duplicate of each such list
9 to be delivered to the judge of election in the election
10 district in the same manner and at the same time as are provided
11 in this act for the delivery of other election supplies, and it
12 shall be the duty of such judge of election to post such
13 duplicate list in a conspicuous place within the polling place
14 of his district and see that it is kept so posted throughout the
15 time that the polls are open. Upon written request, he shall
16 furnish a copy of such list to any candidate or party county
17 chairman.
18 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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