HOUSE AMENDED

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY PILEGGI, SCARNATI, MELLOW, ALLOWAY, ORIE, RAFFERTY, FERLO, FOLMER, ROBBINS, O'PAKE, TARTAGLIONE, EARLL, KASUNIC, TOMLINSON, PICCOLA, McILHINNEY, STACK, PIPPY, LOGAN, YAW, WARD, WASHINGTON, BOSCOLA AND D. WHITE, JANUARY 20, 2009

AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 25, 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," further providing for powers and duties of the

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Secretary of the Commonwealth, for Voting Standards

Development Board and for restrictions on alteration of

boundaries of election districts.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 536 of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,

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No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, amended May

16, 2002 (P.L.310, No.44), is amended to read:

Section 1.  Section 201(b) of the act of June 3, 1937

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

amended October 8, 2004 (P.L.807, No.97), is amended to read:

Section 201.  Powers and Duties of the Secretary of the

Commonwealth.--The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall exercise

in the manner provided by this act all powers granted to him by

this act, and shall perform all the duties imposed upon him by

this act, which shall include the following:

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(b)  To examine and reexamine voting machines, and to approve

or disapprove them for use in this State, in accordance with the

provisions of this act. The secretary shall not approve any

voting machine for any election, Federal or State, in this

Commonwealth, that does not comply with the requirements of

section 301 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (Public Law

107-252, 42 U.S.C. § 15481).

* * *

Section 2.  Section 204(h) of the act, amended May 12, 2006

(P.L.178, No.45), is amended to read:

Section 204.  Voting Standards Development Board.--* * *

(h)  (1)  The board shall have the power and duty to develop

uniform and nondiscriminatory standards that define what

constitutes a valid vote cast through a paper ballot and what

constitutes a valid vote through each type of electronic voting

system used in the Commonwealth. On or before July 1, 2003, the

board shall adopt standards for paper ballots and each type of

electronic voting system. The department shall cause these

standards to be published as a notice in the Pennsylvania

Bulletin.

(2)  The standards adopted by the board and published by the

Department of State in the Pennsylvania Bulletin Volume 33

Number 31 on August 2, 2003, shall, for the general election in

2004 and any primary, municipal, special and general election in

2006 [and], 2007, 2009 and 2010, have the force and effect of

law.

Section 3.  Section 536 of the act, amended May 16, 2002

(P.L.310, No.44), is amended to read:

Section 536.  Restrictions on Alteration.--(a)  Except as

provided in subsection (b), there shall be no power to

establish, abolish, divide, consolidate or alter in any manner

an election district during the period [June 1, 2000] June July 

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1, 2009, through [June 30, 2002] November 30, 2012, or through

resolution of all judicial appeals to the [2002] 2012 

Congressional [Reapportionment] Redistricting Plan, whichever

occurs later.

(b)  During the period from [June 1, 2000] June July 1, 2009,

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through December 31, [2000] 2010, an election district may be

divided or election districts may be combined if the following

are met:

(1)  In the case of the division of an election district, the

boundary of each resulting district is composed entirely of

clearly visible physical features conforming with the census

block lines or portions of the original boundary of the election

district which was divided.

(2)  In the case of the combination of election districts,

the boundary of each resulting district is composed entirely of

portions of the original boundaries of the election districts

which were combined.

(c)  If an alteration of an election district under

subsection (b) is sought, the following shall apply:

(1)  The county board of elections shall notify the [bureau] 

secretary, in writing, of the proposed alteration. The notice

shall include a map and a description of the proposed boundary

of any new or altered district or districts. The [bureau] 

secretary shall forward a copy of any notice of proposed

alteration to the Legislative Data Processing Center within

seven (7) days of receipt.

(2)  Before a county board of elections may petition the

court for a change in the boundary of an election district under

this [act] section, the secretary must make a determination that

the board has complied with subsection (b). Any of the following

constitute evidence of the determination under this clause:

(i)  A certification by the secretary that the determination

has been made.

(ii)  A certification by the board that notice under this

clause has been given to the [bureau] secretary and that the

secretary has not acted within forty-five (45) days of the

notice.

(3)  The board shall forward a copy of the order approving

any alteration to the secretary and the Legislative Data

Processing Center within seven (7) days of the issuance of that

order.

Section 2 4.  To facilitate effective reapportionment and

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redistricting processes following the 2010 United States Census,

no later than August 15, 2009, the Secretary of the Commonwealth

shall submit to the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau

of the Census, any corrections to municipal boundaries and

election district boundaries as depicted on the maps maintained

by the Bureau which may be necessary to conform the boundaries

to the official municipal boundaries and election district

boundaries of the Commonwealth. If the Secretary of the

Commonwealth determines that no corrections are necessary, the

secretary shall so notify the Majority Leader and the Minority

Leader of the Senate and the Majority Leader and the Minority

Leader of the House of Representatives. 

Section 3.  This act shall take effect immediately.

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Section 5.  This act shall take effect as follows:

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(1)  The amendment of section 204(h) of the act shall

take effect in 60 days.

(2)  The remainder of this act shall take effect

immediately.