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PRINTER'S NO. 70
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
75
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY SNYDER, DEAN, MATZIE, GERGELY, MARSHALL, GAINEY,
SAMUELSON, YOUNGBLOOD, V. BROWN, O'BRIEN, BULLOCK, McNEILL,
KINSEY, D. COSTA, MULLERY, WARD, FRANKEL, SCHLOSSBERG,
BIZZARRO, McCARTER, SIMS, CARROLL, STURLA, FREEMAN, DeLUCA
AND WARREN, JANUARY 23, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 23, 2017
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," in preparation for and conduct of primaries and
elections, further providing for notice of November
elections, providing for early voting and further providing
for duties of election officials; in voting by qualified
absentee electors, further providing for application for
absentee ballots; and repealing provisions of Title 25 of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes relating to application
for absentee ballots.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1201 of the act of June 3, 1937
(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is
amended to read:
Section 1201. Notice of November Elections.--The county
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board of each county shall, not earlier than [ten] fifteen days
nor later than [three] nine days before each November election,
give notice of the same by newspaper publication in the county
in accordance with the provisions of section 106 of this act,
said notice to be published twice in counties of the first class
and once in all other counties. Such notice shall set forth--(a)
the officers to be elected in the State at large, or in said
county, or in any district of which said county or part thereof
forms a part, or in any city, borough, township, school
district, poor district, ward or other district which is
contained in such county; (b) the names of the candidates for
election to Federal, State, county and city offices, whose names
will appear upon the ballots or ballot labels; (c) the text of
all constitutional amendments and other questions to be
submitted at such election; (d) the places at which the election
is to be held in the various election districts of the county;
and (e) the date of the election and the hours during which the
polls will be open. Such notice may include a portion of the
form of ballot or diagram of the face of the voting machine in
reduced size.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 1201.3. Early Voting Period.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of this act to the contrary, the county board of
each county shall provide for early voting to begin eight days
prior to the dates of elections established in accordance with
Article VI. The early voting period shall end seven days after
the early voting start date.
Section 1201.4. Early Voting Sites.--(a) The county board
of each county shall designate early voting sites where electors
may cast their ballots during the early voting period
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established in accordance with section 1201.3.
(b) The early voting sites shall include the office of the
county board of elections and sites designated by the county
board within the election district. The early voting sites shall
be geographically located to provide electors in the election
district an equal opportunity to cast a ballot. Aside from the
office of the county board of elections, the county board is
prohibited from designating early voting sites outside the
geographical boundary of election districts within their county.
The county board shall make available at these sites the same
cards of instructions and supplies required under section 1202
of this act.
(c) During the early voting period, the county board shall
appoint, in the same manner, clerks of elections and machine
inspectors at each designated early voting polling place as
provided for under Article IV.
Section 1203.1. Meeting of Election Officers for Early
Voting; Voter's Certificates.--(a) The provisions of section
1208 regarding meeting of election officers shall apply to the
early voting period.
(b) At each early voting site, the county board shall
prepare a suitable number of voter's certificates as provided
for in section 1203. Each elector who appears to vote at an
early voting site shall complete a voter certificate and shall
present to an election officer one of the forms of photo
identification as established in section 1210, if such photo
identification is required.
Section 1205.1. Days and Times for Opening and Closing Polls
at Early Voting Sites.--The county board of each county shall
designate the early voting sites to be open from 8 A.M. to 7
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P.M. each weekday during the early voting period and from 1 P.M.
to 5 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday during the early voting period.
Early voting sites shall allow any person in line at the closing
of an early voting site to cast a vote.
Section 1205.2. Extending Absentee Eligibility.--A qualified
elector, as defined in section 102, shall continue to be
eligible for an absentee ballot if the qualified elector is
expected to be absent from his election district during the
early voting period and on election day and meets the conditions
under section 102(w).
Section 3. Section 1225 of the act is amended by adding
subsections to read:
Section 1225. Signing and Disposition of Returns, District
Register and Voting Check List; Posting; Return of Ballot
Boxes.--* * *
(d) During early voting periods, each judge of elections
shall make the voter check list available no later than twelve
o'clock noon of each day and shall be contemporaneously provided
to the Secretary of the Commonwealth but shall not tabulate
votes prior to the close of the polls on election day. The
ballot of each elector voting early may be counted even if the
elector dies on or before election day. The county board shall
maintain a voting check list in such a way to ensure that
electors are prohibited from casting additional ballots at
either an early voting site or on election day in their
precinct.
(e) An early voting site designated by the county board
shall submit a detailed report of security procedures to secure
the ballots prior to the early voting period to the Secretary of
the Commonwealth.
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Section 4. Section 1302(a) of the act is amended to read:
Section 1302. Applications for Official Absentee Ballots.--
(a) Any qualified elector defined in preceding section 1301,
subsections (a) to (h), inclusive, may apply at any time before
any primary or election for any official absentee ballot in
person, on any form supplied by the Federal Government, [or] on
any official county board of election form or on any other
signed document addressed to the Secretary of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or the county board of election of the county in
which his voting residence is located.
* * *
Section 5. Repeals are as follows:
(1) The General Assembly finds and declares that the
repeal under paragraph (2) is necessary to effectuate the
amendment of section 1302(a) of the act.
(2) The provisions of 25 Pa.C.S. ยง 3302 are repealed.
Section 6. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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