Regular Session 2017-2018 House Bill 0075 P.N. 0070

PRINTER'S NO. 70

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

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

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.

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

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. § 3302 are repealed.

Section 6. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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