Regular Session 2019-2020 House Bill 1543 P.N. 1960

PRINTER'S NO. 1960

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1543

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY OBERLANDER, MIZGORSKI, BERNSTINE, NEILSON, CIRESI,

MILLARD, KEEFER, HILL-EVANS, DeLUCA AND DEASY, JUNE 3, 2019

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 3, 2019

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 ballots, further providing for form of

ballots, printing ballots, stubs and numbers; and, in voting

by qualified absentee electors, further providing for

applications for official absentee ballots.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Sections 1004 and 1302(e.1) of the act of June 3,

1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election

Code, are amended to read:

Section 1004. Form of Ballots; Printing Ballots; Stubs;

Numbers.--(a) From the lists furnished by the Secretary of the

Commonwealth under the provisions of sections 915 and 984, and

from petitions and papers filed in their office, the county

election board shall print the official primary and election

ballots in accordance with the provisions of this act: Provided,

however, That in no event, shall the name of any person

consenting to be a candidate for nomination for any one office,

except the office of judge of a court of common pleas, the

Philadelphia Municipal Court or the Traffic Court of

Philadelphia, or the office of school director in districts

where that office is elective or the office of justice of the

peace be printed as a candidate for such office upon the

official primary ballot of more than one party. All ballots for

use in the same election district at any primary or election

shall be alike. They shall be at least six inches long and four

inches wide, and shall have a margin extending beyond any

printing thereon. They shall be printed with the same kind of

type [(which], which shall not be smaller than the size known as

"brevier" or "eight point [body")] body," upon white paper of

uniform quality, without any impression or mark to distinguish

one from another, and with sufficient thickness to prevent the

printed matter from showing through. Each ballot shall be

attached to a stub, and all the ballots for the same election

district shall be bound together in books of fifty, in such

manner that each ballot may be detached from its stub and

removed separately. The ballots for each party to be used at a

primary shall be bound separately. The stubs of the ballots

shall be consecutively numbered, and in the case of primary

ballots, the number shall be preceded by an initial or

abbreviation designating the party name. The number and initial

or abbreviation which appears upon the stub shall also be

printed in the upper right hand corner of the back of the

ballot, separated from the remainder of the ballot by a diagonal

perforated line so prepared that the upper right hand corner of

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the back of the ballot containing the number may be detached

from the ballot before it is deposited in the ballot box and

beside that corner shall also be printed, "Remove numbered stub

immediately before depositing your ballot in ballot box."

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), upon request in writing

of a qualified registered elector under section 1302(e.1), the

county election board shall print a ballot in type that may not

be smaller than the size known as "sixteen point body" for the

qualified registered elector.

Section 1302. Applications for Official Absentee Ballots.--*

* *

(e.1) Any qualified registered elector, including any

qualified bedridden or hospitalized veteran, who is unable

because of illness or physical disability to attend his polling

place on the day of any primary or election or operate a voting

machine and state distinctly and audibly that he is unable to do

so as required by section 1218 of this act may, with the

certification by his attending physician that he is permanently

disabled, and physically unable to attend the polls or operate a

voting machine and make the distinct and audible statement

required by section 1218 appended to the application

hereinbefore required, be placed on a permanently disabled

absentee ballot list file. [An absentee ballot application shall

be mailed to every such person for each primary or election so

long as he does not lose his voting rights by failure to vote as

otherwise required by this act. Such person shall not be

required to file a physician's certificate of disability with

each application as required in subsection (e) of this section

but such person must submit a written statement asserting

continuing disability every four years in order to maintain his

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eligibility to vote under the provisions of this subsection.]

Each qualified registered elector on a permanently disabled

absentee ballot list file shall be mailed an absentee ballot

each primary and election. A qualified registered elector on a

permanently disabled absentee ballot list file whose absentee

ballot is returned as undeliverable for three consecutive

primaries or two consecutive elections shall be deemed inactive.

If a qualified registered elector on a permanently disabled

absentee ballot list file dies or is moved to inactive status

under this subsection, the elector shall be removed from the

permanently disabled absentee ballot list file. Should any such

person lose his disability he shall inform the county board of

elections of the county of his residence.

* * *

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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