PRINTER'S NO. 66
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
90
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, COSTA, HUGHES, FONTANA, FARNESE, ALLOWAY,
BREWSTER AND TEPLITZ, JANUARY 14, 2015
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 14, 2015
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 preliminary provisions, setting forth a
concise statement of voter's rights; in election districts
and polling places, requiring that the statement of voter's
rights be visible in voter registration offices and polling
places; providing for polling place accessibility; in
qualifications of electors, further providing for
qualifications of electors at primaries; in party
organization, further providing for only enrolled electors to
vote at primaries or hold party offices; in nomination of
candidates, providing for procedure for unenrolled electors
to cast primary ballots and for form of declaration of party
enrollment; and, in preparation for and conduct of primaries
and elections, 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:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
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:
20150SB0090PN0066 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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
20150SB0090PN0066 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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
20150SB0090PN0066 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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 ..........................
20150SB0090PN0066 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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
20150SB0090PN0066 - 6 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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
20150SB0090PN0066 - 7 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
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.
20150SB0090PN0066 - 8 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8