THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, COSTA, FONTANA, SOLOBAY, KITCHEN, LEACH, WOZNIAK, BREWSTER AND FARNESE, FEBRUARY 25, 2011

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 25, 2011  

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," setting forth a concise statement of voter's

rights; requiring that the statement of voter's rights be

visible in voter registration offices and polling places;

providing for polling place accessibility; further providing

for qualifications of electors at primaries and for only

enrolled electors to vote at primaries or hold party offices;

providing for procedure for unenrolled electors to cast

primary ballots and for form of declaration of party

enrollment; and further providing for persons entitled to

vote and challenges and for voting check lists.

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 107.  Voter's Bill of Rights.--(a)  The following

rights are guaranteed to all registered voters in this

Commonwealth:

(1)  A voter who is in line at the correct polling place

during the hours it is required by law to be open may vote, even

if the voter's turn to vote does not come until after those

hours expire.

(2)  If a voter has moved from the voter's original polling

district to another, the voter may return to the original

polling district to vote for as long as the voter remains

qualified there. To be eligible to vote in the new polling

district, the voter must either file a notice of removal with

the voting registrar or register anew.

(3)  A voter who has a physical disability or who cannot read

or write may apply to the voting registrar for a special needs

ballot, but this must be done at least ten days before the

election.

(4)  A voter may take his children who are not yet eighteen

years of age into the voting booth with him.

(5)  A voter has the right to vote without being intimidated

or forced to vote for someone the voter does not wish to vote

for.

(6)  A voter who believes that any of the voter's rights

under this act have been violated may call the voter's local law

enforcement officers.

(b)  A listing of the rights set forth under subsection (a)

shall be posted publicly in each voter registration office and,

on election days, polling place.

Section 2.  Section 527(a) of the act, amended May 12, 2006

(P.L.178, No.45), is amended to read:

Section 527.  Public Buildings to Be Used Where Possible;

Portable Polling Places.--(a)  In selecting polling places, the

county board of elections shall, wherever possible and

practicable, select schoolhouses, municipal buildings or rooms,

or other public buildings for that purpose and shall ensure that

the places selected are accessible by persons with physical

disabilities. Any board of public education or school directors,

or county or the municipal authorities shall, upon request of

the county board, make arrangements for the use of school

property, or of county or municipal property for polling places.

In selecting polling places, the county board of elections shall

make every effort to select polling places that provide all

electors with an environment that is free from intimidation and

violence.

In the event no available public building as contemplated

under this section is situated within the boundaries of any

election district, the county board of elections may, not less

than twenty days prior to any election, designate as the polling

place for such election district any such public building

situated in another election district within the same or

immediately adjacent ward, or, if there are no wards, then

within the same borough or township as the case may be, provided

such other building is located in an election district which is

immediately adjacent to the boundary of the election district

for which it is to be the polling place and is directly

accessible therefrom by public street or thoroughfare. Two or

more polling places may be located in the same public building

under this section. A polling place may be selected and

designated hereunder less than twenty days prior to any

election, with the approval of a court of competent

jurisdiction.

* * *

Section 3.  Sections 702 and 802 of the act are amended to

read:

Section 702.  Qualifications of Electors at Primaries.--The

qualifications of electors entitled to vote at primaries shall

be the same as the qualifications of electors entitled to vote

at elections within the election district where the primary is

held, provided that no elector who is not registered [and

enrolled as a member of a political party], in accordance with

the provisions of this act, shall be permitted to vote the

ballot of [such party or] any [other] party [ballot] at any

primary.

Section 802.  Only Enrolled Electors to Vote at Primaries or

Hold Party Offices.--No person who is not registered and

enrolled as a member of a political party shall be entitled to

[vote at any primary of such party or to] be elected or serve as

a party officer, or a member or officer of any party committee,

or delegate or alternate delegate to any party convention.

Section 4.  Section 902 of the act, amended May 23, 1949

(P.L.1656, No.504), is amended to read:

Section 902.  Candidates to Be Nominated and Party Officers

to Be Elected at Primaries.--All candidates of political

parties, as defined in section 801 of this act, for the offices

of United States Senator, Representative in Congress and for all

other elective public offices within this State, except that of

presidential electors, shall be nominated, and party delegates

and alternate delegates, committeemen and officers who, under

the provisions of Article VIII of this act or under the party

rules, are required to be elected by the party electors, shall

be elected at primaries held in accordance with the provisions

of this act, except as otherwise provided in this act. In the

years when candidates for the office of President of the United

States are to be nominated, every registered [and enrolled

member of a political party] elector shall have the opportunity

at the Spring primary in such years to vote [his] a preference

for one person to be the candidate of [his] a political party

for President.

Section 5.  The act is amended by adding sections to read:

Section 902.1.  Procedure for Unenrolled Electors to Cast

Primary Ballots.--If a person is not enrolled in a political

party, the elections officer shall ask the person in which

political party's primary that person desires to vote, and the

elections officer upon reply shall record the voter's selection

upon the voter's certificate and for the purpose of that ballot

shall be enrolled in that party. The person shall remain

unenrolled for party designation unless the person completes a

declaration of enrollment as described in section 902.2.

Section 902.2.  Form of Declaration of Party Enrollment.--If

after a person has cast a political party ballot, as prescribed

in section 902.1, and the person wishes to remain enrolled in

that party, the person shall complete a declaration of

enrollment which shall be made available within the polling

place and shall be in a form approved by the Secretary of the

Commonwealth substantially as follows:

Declaration of Enrollment

Name .............................

(Print)

Date .............................

Address ..........................

I hereby request that my political party enrollment be as

follows:

Party ......................

Signed under penalty of perjury.

..................................

(Signature)

The elections officer shall then include the person's

declaration of enrollment with the voter's certificate and

insert both into the voting check list as provided for in

section 1212. Once processed, the county board shall then send a

new certificate of registration, with the declared party

enrollment listed, to the person requesting enrollment.

Section 6.  Section 1210(d) of the act, amended October 8,

2004 (P.L.807, No.97), is amended to read:

Section 1210.  Manner of Applying to Vote; Persons Entitled

to Vote; Voter's Certificates; Entries to Be Made in District

Register; Numbered Lists of Voters; Challenges.--* * *

(d)  No person, except a qualified elector who is in actual

military or naval service under a requisition of the President

of the United States or by the authority of this Commonwealth,

and who votes under the provisions of Article XIII of this act,

shall be entitled or permitted to vote at any primary or

election at any polling place outside the election district in

which [he] the person resides, nor shall [he] the person be

permitted to vote in the election district in which [he] the

person resides, unless [he] the person has been personally

registered as an elector and [his] the person's registration

card appears in the district register of such election district,

except by order of the court of common pleas as provided in this

act, and any person, although personally registered as an

elector, may be challenged by any qualified elector, election

officer, overseer, or watcher at any primary or election as to

[his] identity, as to [his] continued residence in the election

district or as to any alleged violation of the provisions of

section 1210 of this act, and if challenged as to identity or

residence, [he] the person shall produce at least one qualified

elector of the election district as a witness, who shall make

affidavit of his identity or continued residence in the election

district: Provided, however, That no person shall be entitled to

vote as a member of a party at any primary, unless [he] the

person is:

(1)  registered and enrolled as a member of such party

upon the district register, which enrollment shall be

conclusive as to [his] party membership and shall not be

subject to challenge on the day of the primary[.]; or

(2)  registered as an independent or nonparty voter, in

which case the person may vote for the candidates of the

party of the voter's choice, the choice to be made at the

polling place on the day of the primary election. The voter's

choice of parties at one primary election shall not preclude

the voter from choosing a different party at a subsequent

primary election.

Section 7.  Section 1212 of the act is amended to read:

Section 1212.  Voting Check List.--After each elector has

been admitted to vote, [his] each voter's certificate and, where

applicable, each declaration of enrollment shall be inserted in

the file or binder provided therefor by the county board, and

known as the "Voting Check List," and the [said] voter's

certificate and declaration of enrollment so bound shall

constitute the official list of electors voting at such primary

or election. All voter's certificates prepared by persons

applying to vote whose applications to vote are refused by the

election officer shall be carefully preserved and returned to

the county board with the other papers. Within ninety days of

such return, the voting check list shall be reviewed by the

county board and all persons wishing to be enrolled in a party,

as prescribed in sections 902.1 and 902.2, shall be processed

accordingly.

Section 8.  This act shall take effect immediately.