PRINTER'S NO. 705
No. 639 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY FREIND, MARCH 16, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 16, 1977
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2 "An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3 special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4 primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5 and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6 imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7 courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8 imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9 revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10 repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11 elections," authorizing cross-filing by candidates for the
12 office of district attorney.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby enacts as follows:
15 Section 1. Section 910, the first paragraph of section 976,
16 subsection (a) of section 993, subsections (a) and (b) of
17 section 998 and section 1004, act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
18 No.320), known as the "Pennsylvania Election Code," amended June
19 27, 1974 (P.L.413, No.146) and section 1004 amended December 10,
20 1974 (P.L.835, No.280), are amended to read:
21 Section 910. Affidavits of Candidates.--Each candidate for
22 any State, county, city, borough, incorporated town, township,
23 ward, school district, poor district, election district, party
1 office, party delegate or alternate, or for the office of United
2 States Senator or Representative in Congress, shall file with
3 his nomination petition his affidavit stating--(a) his
4 residence, with street and number, if any, and his post-office
5 address; (b) his election district, giving city, borough, town
6 or township; (c) the name of the office for which he consents to
7 be a candidate; (d) that he is eligible for such office; (e)
8 that he will not knowingly violate any provision of this act, or
9 of any law regulating and limiting nomination and election
10 expenses and prohibiting corrupt practices in connection
11 therewith; (f) unless he is a candidate for judge of a court of
12 record, or for the office of school director in a district where
13 that office is elective or for the office of justice of the
14 peace or for the office of district attorney that he is not a
15 candidate for nomination for the same office of any party other
16 than the one designated in such petition; (g) if he is a
17 candidate for a delegate, or alternate delegate, member of State
18 committee, National committee or party officer, that he is a
19 registered and enrolled member of the designated party; and (h)
20 if he is a candidate for delegate or alternate delegate the
21 presidential candidate to whom he is committed or the term
22 "uncommitted." In cases of petitions for delegate and alternate
23 delegate to National conventions, the candidate's affidavit
24 shall state that his signature to the delegate's statement, as
25 hereinafter set forth, if such statement is signed by said
26 candidate, was affixed to the sheet or sheets of said petition
27 prior to the circulation of same. In the case of a candidate for
28 nomination as President of the United States, it shall not be
29 necessary for such candidate to file the affidavit required in
30 this section to be filed by candidates, but the post-office
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1 address of such candidate shall be stated in such nomination
2 petition.
3 Section 976. Examination of Nomination Petitions,
4 Certificates and Papers; Return of Rejected Nomination
5 Petitions, Certificates and Papers.--When any nomination
6 petition, nomination certificate or nomination paper is
7 presented in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth or
8 of any county board of elections for filing within the period
9 limited by this act, it shall be the duty of the said officer or
10 board to examine the same. No nomination petition, nomination
11 paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed
12 if--(a) it contains material errors or defects apparent on the
13 face thereof, or on the face of the appended or accompanying
14 affidavits; or (b) it contains material alterations made after
15 signing without the consent of the signers; or (c) it does not
16 contain a sufficient number of signatures as required by law:
17 Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the
18 county board of elections, although not hereby required so to
19 do, may question the genuineness of any signature or signatures
20 appearing thereon, and if he or it shall thereupon find that any
21 such signature or signatures are not genuine, such signature or
22 signatures shall be disregarded in determining whether the
23 nomination petition, nomination paper or nomination certificate
24 contains a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
25 or (d) in the case of nomination petitions, if nomination
26 petitions have been filed for printing the name of the same
27 person for the same office, except the office of judge of a
28 court of record, or the office of school director in districts
29 where that office is elective or the office of justice of the
30 peace or the office of district attorney upon the official
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1 ballot of more than one political party; or (e) in the case of
2 nomination papers, if the candidate named therein has filed a
3 nomination petition for any public office for the ensuing
4 primary, or has been nominated for any such office by nomination
5 papers previously filed; or (f) if the nomination petitions or
6 papers are not accompanied by the filing fee or certified check
7 required for said office; or (g) in the case of nomination
8 papers, the appellation set forth therein is identical with or
9 deceptively similar to the words used by any existing party or
10 by any political body which has already filed nomination papers
11 for the same office, or if the appellation set forth therein
12 contains part of the name, or an abbreviation of the name or
13 part of the name of an existing political party, or of a
14 political body which has already filed nomination papers for the
15 same office. The invalidity of any sheet of a nomination
16 petition or nomination paper shall not affect the validity of
17 such petition or paper if a sufficient petition or paper remains
18 after eliminating such invalid sheet. The action of said officer
19 or board in refusing to receive and file any such nomination
20 petition, certificate or paper, may be reviewed by the court of
21 common pleas of the proper county upon an application for a writ
22 of mandamus to compel its reception as of the date when it was
23 presented to the office of such officer or board: Provided,
24 however, That said officer or board shall be entitled to a
25 reasonable time in which to examine any petitions, certificates
26 or papers, and to summon and interrogate the candidates named
27 therein, or the persons presenting said petitions, certificates
28 or papers, and his or their retention of same for the purpose of
29 making such examination or interrogation shall not be construed
30 as an acceptance or filing.
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1 * * *
2 Section 993. Filling of Certain Vacancies in Public Office
3 by Means of Nomination Certificates and Nomination Papers.--(a)
4 In all cases where a vacancy shall occur for any cause in an
5 elective public office, including that of judge of a court of
6 record, at a time when such vacancy is required by the
7 provisions of the Constitution or the laws of this Commonwealth
8 to be filled at the ensuing election but at a time when
9 nominations for such office cannot be made under any other
10 provision of this act, nominations to fill such vacancies shall
11 be made by political parties in accordance with party rules
12 relating to the filling of vacancies by means of nomination
13 certificates in the form prescribed in section nine hundred
14 ninety-four of this act, and by political bodies by means of
15 nomination papers in accordance with the provisions of sections
16 nine hundred fifty-one, nine hundred fifty-two and nine hundred
17 fifty-four of this act. No such nomination certificate shall
18 nominate any person who has already been nominated by any other
19 political party or by any political body for the same office,
20 unless such person is a candidate for the office of judge of a
21 court of record or the office of school director in districts
22 where that office is elective or for the office of justice of
23 the peace or for the office of district attorney. No such
24 nomination papers shall nominate any person who has already been
25 nominated by any political party or by any other political body
26 for any office to be filled at the ensuing November election,
27 unless such person is a candidate for the office of judge of a
28 court of record or the office of school director in districts
29 where that office is elective or for the office of justice of
30 the peace or for the office of district attorney.
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1 * * *
2 Section 998. Substituted Nominations to Fill Certain
3 Vacancies for a November Election.--(a) Any vacancy happening
4 or existing in any party nomination made in accordance with the
5 provisions of section nine hundred ninety-three of this act for
6 a November election by reason of the death or withdrawal of any
7 candidate may be filled by a substituted nomination made by such
8 committee as is authorized by the rules of the party to make
9 nominations in the event of vacancies on the party ticket, in
10 the form prescribed by section nine hundred ninety-four of this
11 act. But no substituted nomination certificate shall nominate
12 any person who has already been nominated by any other political
13 party or by any political body for the same office, unless such
14 person is a candidate for the office of judge of a court of
15 record or for the office of school director in districts where
16 that office is elective or for the office of justice of the
17 peace or for the office of district attorney.
18 (b) In case of the death or withdrawal of any candidate
19 nominated by a political body for an election, the committee
20 named in the original nomination papers may nominate a
21 substitute in his place by filing a substituted nomination
22 certificate in the form and manner prescribed by section nine
23 hundred eighty of this act. In the case of a vacancy caused by
24 the death of any candidate, said nomination certificate shall be
25 accompanied by a death certificate properly certified. No
26 substituted nomination certificate shall nominate any person who
27 has already been nominated by any political party or by any
28 other political body for any office to be filled at the ensuing
29 November election, unless such person is a candidate for the
30 office of judge of a court of record or for the office of school
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1 director in districts where that office is elective or for the
2 office of justice of the peace or for the office of district
3 attorney.
4 * * *
5 Section 1004. Form of Ballots; Printing Ballots; Stubs;
6 Numbers.--From the lists furnished by the Secretary of the
7 Commonwealth under the provisions of sections 915 and 984, and
8 from petitions and papers filed in their office, the county
9 election board shall print the official primary and election
10 ballots in accordance with the provisions of this act: Provided,
11 however, That in no event, shall the name of any person
12 consenting to be a candidate for nomination for any one office,
13 except the office of judge of a court of record, or the office
14 of school director in districts where that office is elective or
15 the office of justice of the peace or the office of district
16 attorney be printed as a candidate for such office upon the
17 official primary ballot of more than one party. All ballots for
18 use in the same election district at any primary or election
19 shall be alike. They shall be at least six inches long and four
20 inches wide, and shall have a margin extending beyond any
21 printing thereon. They shall be printed with the same kind of
22 type (which shall not be smaller than the size known as
23 "brevier" or "eight point body") upon white paper of uniform
24 quality, without any impression or mark to distinguish one from
25 another, and with sufficient thickness to prevent the printed
26 matter from showing through. Each ballot shall be attached to a
27 stub, and all the ballots for the same election district shall
28 be bound together in books of fifty, in such manner that each
29 ballot may be detached from its stub and removed separately. The
30 ballots for each party to be used at a primary shall be bound
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1 separately. The stubs of the ballots shall be consecutively
2 numbered, and in the case of primary ballots, the number shall
3 be preceded by an initial or abbreviation designating the party
4 name. The number and initial or abbreviation which appears upon
5 the stub shall also be printed in the upper right hand corner of
6 the back of the ballot, separated from the remainder of the
7 ballot by a diagonal perforated line so prepared that the upper
8 right hand corner of the back of the ballot containing the
9 number may be detached from the ballot before it is deposited in
10 the ballot box and beside that corner shall also be printed,
11 "Remove numbered stub immediately before depositing your ballot
12 in ballot box."
13 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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