SENATE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1872, 3506
PRINTER'S NO. 3559
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
34
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY DAY, R. BROWN, HAMM, MOUL, ZIMMERMAN, JONES AND
TWARDZIK, JUNE 22, 2021
SENATOR ARGALL, STATE GOVERNMENT, IN SENATE, AS AMENDED,
OCTOBER 18, 2022
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, providing for ballot securement.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known
as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 1234. Ballot Securement.--(a) Each county board
shall adopt ballot security procedures , in accordance with this
section, to ensure that ballots cast in an election are not
tampered with or counted erroneously.
(b) Ballots cast in an election shall be secured in a
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transportation container during any point in which the ballots
are not at a voting precinct POLLING PLACE or county board of
elections, unless in custody of the United States Postal
Service. The transportation container shall possess a numbered
security tag that seals the transportation container and
includes an individually identifiable number.
(c) The following apply to a bill of lading for ballots
outside of a voting precinct POLLING PLACE or county board of
elections :
(1) The ballot security procedure under this section shall
include REQUIRE THE INCLUSION OF a bill of lading sealed within
each transportation container described in subsection (b), which
shall accompany the ballots cast in the election:
(i) at the location that the ballots are initially
collected; AND
(ii) while the ballots are in transit; and TRANSIT.
(iii) at any storage location for the ballots until the
ballots are precanvassed or canvassed .
(2) THE BILL OF LADING SHALL REMAIN WITH THE BALLOTS AT ANY
STORAGE LOCATION FOR THE BALLOTS UNTIL THE BALLOTS ARE SORTED AT
A POLLING PLACE OR COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
(2) (3) The bill of lading shall include the location, date
and time that the ballots cast in the election were collected,
along with the numbered security tag number.
(3) (4) Any bills of lading that are not sealed in a
transportation or storage container shall be kept in accordance
with the county's ballot security procedures and shall be
available for inspection by a poll watcher.
(d) If the numbered security tag is broken, it should be
stored with the bill of lading and the bill of lading shall be
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marked with the:
(1) location, date and time regarding the incident;
(2) reason for the incident;
(3) broken numbered security tag number; and
(4) newly affixed numbered security tag number.
(e) If a transportation container containing ballots is
moved, documentation shall be kept with the container, including
the name of the individual who handled or had custody of the
transportation container. The individual shall record the
location, date, time and numbered security tag number regarding
the ballots cast in the election. Storage and maintenance of
chain of custody of documents shall be prescribed in the
county's ballot security procedures.
(f) A poll watcher shall be entitled to know the number of
transportation and storage containers containing ballots in a
given election, which are waiting to be precanvassed, canvassed
or stored after counting.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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