THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY McILHINNEY, RAFFERTY, O'PAKE, BOSCOLA, WILLIAMS, EARLL AND D. WHITE, JUNE 5, 2009

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 5, 2009  

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled

"An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,

special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,

primary and election expenses and election contests; creating

and defining membership of county boards of elections;

imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,

courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;

imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,

revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and

repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to

elections," providing for emergency paper ballots.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1120-A of the act of June 3, 1937

(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,

added July 11, 1980 (P.L.600, No.128), is amended to read:

Section 1120-A.  Unofficial Ballot Labels; Repair [and]; 

Alternate Use of Paper Ballots; and Emergency Paper Ballots.--

(a)  If ballot labels for an election district at which an

electronic voting system is to be used, shall not be delivered

to the election officers of that district as required by section

1110-A, the judge of election of such district shall cause other

labels to be prepared, printed, or written, as nearly in the

form of official ballot labels as practicable, and the election

officers shall cause the labels so substituted, to be used at

the election insofar as is possible in the same manner as the

official labels. Such labels, so substituted, shall be known as

unofficial ballot labels.

(b)  If any electronic voting system or any component thereof

being used in any election shall become inoperable during such

election, it shall, if possible, be repaired or another machine

substituted by the custodian or county board of elections as

promptly as possible, for which purpose the county board may

purchase as many extra systems or system components as it may

deem necessary, but in case such repair or substitution cannot

be made, paper ballots, either printed or written and of any

suitable form, may be used for registering votes.

(c)  If the wait time to vote at any polling place in any

election exceeds one-half hour, voters in line shall be offered

the opportunity to register their votes on an emergency paper

ballot. Those voters who wish to register their votes on a paper

ballot shall, after signing the poll book and being registered

on the list of voters, be given an emergency paper ballot. After

the voter marks his or her ballot and seals it in the envelope,

the ballot shall be deposited in a secure container labeled

"emergency paper ballots," kept separate from provisional

ballots, and counted in the polling place on election night

after the close of the polls.

(d)  The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall mandate that

each county shall print emergency paper ballots in a number

equal to or greater than twenty (20) per centum of the number of

registered electors of each party in each election district at

least thirty days before every primary and general election and

shall report this number to the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall have the authority and

discretion to increase this number, should his or her judgment

be that it is insufficient to meet the needs of any of the

election districts. Should the supply of emergency ballots at

any polling place become depleted, election officials shall

print or copy additional emergency ballots. Emergency paper

ballots shall be available in every polling place from the

opening of the polling place to the closing of the polling place

on each primary and general election day.

Section 2.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.