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                                                       PRINTER'S NO. 337

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


SENATE BILL

No. 229 Session of 2001


        INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, LEMMOND, EARLL, HOLL, KUKOVICH AND
           WAUGH, FEBRUARY 6, 2001

        REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 6, 2001

                                     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," repealing provisions for casting of lots for
    12     position of names upon the primary ballots or ballot labels;
    13     further providing for furnishing county boards with list of
    14     candidates; providing for random rotational order for
    15     position of names upon the primary ballots or ballot labels;
    16     and further providing for form of ballots.

    17     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
    18  hereby enacts as follows:
    19     Section 1.  Section 915 of act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
    20  No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is repealed.
    21     Section 2.  Section 916 of the act, amended December 22, 1971
    22  (P.L.613, No.165), is amended to read:
    23     Section 916.  Secretary of the Commonwealth to Furnish County
    24  Boards with List of Candidates; Candidates to Be Notified.--The


     1  Secretary of the Commonwealth, as soon as possible after the
     2  last day fixed for the filing of nomination petitions with him,
     3  and after the last day for the withdrawal of candidates filing
     4  such nomination petitions[, and after the candidates shall have
     5  cast lots for the position of their names upon the primary
     6  ballots or ballot labels], shall forward to the county board of
     7  each county a correct alphabetical list of candidates of each
     8  party for the various offices[, in the order in which they are
     9  to appear upon the official ballots or ballot labels], with
    10  their respective residences, giving city, borough, town or
    11  township, and post-office addresses as shown in their
    12  affidavits; and shall also at the same time notify the said
    13  candidates by mail that their names have been so certified to
    14  said county boards. In the case of each candidate for delegate
    15  or alternate delegate to a National party convention, the
    16  Secretary of the Commonwealth shall certify as to whether such
    17  candidate has included with his affidavit the statement provided
    18  for in section 911 [of this act] and in cases where such
    19  candidate has committed himself to a particular presidential
    20  preference, the name of the presidential candidate to whom he is
    21  committed.
    22     Section 3.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:
    23     Section 916.1.  Random Rotational Order for Position of Names
    24  Upon the Primary Ballots or Ballot Labels; Notice to
    25  Candidates.--(a)  Following the last day fixed for filing of
    26  nomination petitions with the county board and immediately after
    27  receipt of the list furnished by the Secretary of the
    28  Commonwealth under section 916, the county board shall fix a day
    29  for the random rotational order, in such manner as may be
    30  prescribed by the county board for the position of names filed
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     1  with the county board and received from the Secretary of the
     2  Commonwealth upon the primary ballots or ballot labels.
     3     (b)  The county board shall give at least two (2) days'
     4  notice of said date by posting thereof in a conspicuous place in
     5  its office, and by publication once in at least two newspapers
     6  of general circulation published in the county. All candidates
     7  may appear in person, or by agent duly authorized by letter of
     8  attorney, signed and acknowledged by an officer empowered to
     9  take acknowledgments. In the event of any of said candidates not
    10  being present in person or by representative at the time of
    11  determining the random rotational order, the county board may
    12  appoint some person to represent such absentee.
    13     (c)  (1)  At the time of determining the random rotational
    14  order, the county board shall cause the names of all candidates
    15  for an office to be arranged in a group under the title of that
    16  office and to be randomly rotated from one precinct to another
    17  in the county.
    18     (2)  In the case of offices elected by precinct, the county
    19  board shall cause the names of all candidates for those offices
    20  to be arranged in a group under the title of each office and in
    21  a random order in such manner as prescribed by the county board.
    22     (d)  After the county board establishes the order in which
    23  the names of said candidates are to appear upon the primary
    24  ballots or ballot labels, the county board shall certify the
    25  same for placing upon the official primary ballots or ballot
    26  labels.
    27     Section 4.  Section 1004 of the act, amended February 19,
    28  1986 (P.L.29, No.11), is amended to read:
    29     Section 1004.  Form of Ballots; Printing Ballots; Stubs;
    30  Numbers.--From the lists furnished by the Secretary of the
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     1  Commonwealth under the provisions of sections [915] 916 and 984,
     2  and from petitions and papers filed in their office and the
     3  random rotational order established under the provisions of
     4  section 916.1, the county election board shall print the
     5  official primary and election ballots in accordance with the
     6  provisions of this act: Provided, however, That in no event,
     7  shall the name of any person consenting to be a candidate for
     8  nomination for any one office, except the office of judge of a
     9  court of common pleas, the Philadelphia Municipal Court or the
    10  Traffic Court of Philadelphia, or the office of school director
    11  in districts where that office is elective or the office of
    12  justice of the peace be printed as a candidate for such office
    13  upon the official primary ballot of more than one party. All
    14  ballots for use in the same election district at any primary or
    15  election shall be alike. They shall be at least six inches long
    16  and four inches wide, and shall have a margin extending beyond
    17  any printing thereon. They shall be printed with the same kind
    18  of type (which shall not be smaller than the size known as
    19  "brevier" or "eight point body") upon white paper of uniform
    20  quality, without any impression or mark to distinguish one from
    21  another, and with sufficient thickness to prevent the printed
    22  matter from showing through. Each ballot shall be attached to a
    23  stub, and all the ballots for the same election district shall
    24  be bound together in books of fifty, in such manner that each
    25  ballot may be detached from its stub and removed separately. The
    26  ballots for each party to be used at a primary shall be bound
    27  separately. The stubs of the ballots shall be consecutively
    28  numbered, and in the case of primary ballots, the number shall
    29  be preceded by an initial or abbreviation designating the party
    30  name. The number and initial or abbreviation which appears upon
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     1  the stub shall also be printed in the upper right hand corner of
     2  the back of the ballot, separated from the remainder of the
     3  ballot by a diagonal perforated line so prepared that the upper
     4  right hand corner of the back of the ballot containing the
     5  number may be detached from the ballot before it is deposited in
     6  the ballot box and beside that corner shall also be printed,
     7  "Remove numbered stub immediately before depositing your ballot
     8  in ballot box."
     9     Section 5.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.














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