1Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2"An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11elections," further providing for notice of November
12elections; providing for early voting; and further providing
13for duties of election officials.

14The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
15hereby enacts as follows:

16Section 1. Section 1201 of the act of June 3, 1937
17(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,
18amended July 14, 1961 (P.L.647, No.333), is amended to read:

19Section 1201. Notice of November Elections.--The county
20board of each county shall, not earlier than [ten] fifteen days
21nor later than [three] nine days before each November election,

1give notice of the same by newspaper publication in the county
2in accordance with the provisions of section 106 of this act,
3said notice to be published twice in counties of the first class
4and once in all other counties. Such notice shall set forth--(a)
5the officers to be elected in the State at large, or in said
6county, or in any district of which said county or part thereof
7forms a part, or in any city, borough, township, school
8district, poor district, ward or other district which is
9contained in such county; (b) the names of the candidates for
10election to Federal, State, county and city offices, whose names
11will appear upon the ballots or ballot labels; (c) the text of
12all constitutional amendments and other questions to be
13submitted at such election; (d) the places at which the election
14is to be held in the various election districts of the county;
15and (e) the date of the election and the hours during which the
16polls will be open. Such notice may include a portion of the
17form of ballot or diagram of the face of the voting machine in
18reduced size.

19Section 2. The act is amended by adding sections to read:

20Section 1201.3. Early Voting Period.--Notwithstanding any
21other provision of this act to the contrary, the county board of
22each county shall provide for early voting to begin eight days
23prior to the dates of elections established in accordance with
24Article VI. The early voting period shall end seven days after
25the early voting start date.

26Section 1201.4. Early Voting Sites.--(a) The county board
27of each county shall designate early voting sites where electors
28may cast their ballots during the early voting period
29established in accordance with section 1201.3.

30(b) The early voting sites shall include the office of the

1county board of elections and sites designated by the county
2board within the election district. The early voting sites shall
3be geographically located to provide electors in the election
4district an equal opportunity to cast a ballot. Aside from the
5office of the county board of elections, the county board is
6prohibited from designating early voting sites outside the
7geographical boundary of election districts within their county.
8The county board shall make available at these sites the same
9cards of instructions and supplies required under section 1202
10of this act.

11(c) During the early voting period, the county board shall
12appoint, in the same manner, clerks of elections and machine
13inspectors at each designated early voting polling place as
14provided for under Article IV.

15Section 1203.1. Meeting of Election Officers for Early
16Voting; Voter's Certificates.--(a) The provisions of section
171208 regarding meeting of election officers shall apply to the
18early voting period.

19(b) At each early voting site, the county board shall
20prepare a suitable number of voter's certificates as provided
21for in section 1203. Each elector who appears to vote at an
22early voting site shall complete a voter certificate and shall
23present to an election officer one of the forms of photo
24identification as established in section 1210, if such photo
25identification is required.

26Section 1205.1. Days and Times for Opening and Closing Polls
27at Early Voting Sites.--The county board of each county shall
28designate the early voting sites to be open from 8 A. M. to 7 P.
29M. each weekday during the early voting period and from 1 P. M.
30to 5 P. M. on Saturday and Sunday during the early voting

1period. Early voting sites shall allow any person in line at the
2closing of an early voting site to cast a vote.

3Section 1205.2. Extending Absentee Eligibility.--A qualified
4elector, as defined in section 102, shall continue to be
5eligible for an absentee ballot if the qualified elector is
6expected to be absent from his election district during the
7early voting period and on election day and meets the conditions
8under section 102(w).

9Section 3. Section 1225 of the act is amended by adding
10subsections to read:

11Section 1225. Signing and Disposition of Returns, District
12Register and Voting Check List; Posting; Return of Ballot
13Boxes.--* * *

14(d) During early voting periods, each judge of elections
15shall make the voter check list available no later than twelve
16o'clock noon of each day and shall be contemporaneously provided
17to the Secretary of the Commonwealth but shall not tabulate
18votes prior to the close of the polls on election day. The
19ballot of each elector voting early shall be counted even if the
20elector dies on or before election day. The county board shall
21maintain a voting check list in such a way to ensure that
22electors are prohibited from casting additional ballots at
23either an early voting site or on election day in their
24precinct.

25(e) Each early voting site designated by the county board
26shall submit a detailed report of security procedures to secure
27the ballots prior to the early voting period to the Secretary of
28the Commonwealth.

29Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.