PRINTER'S NO. 359
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
375
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, COSTA, HUGHES, FONTANA, FARNESE, BROWNE,
BLAKE, BREWSTER AND HAYWOOD, MARCH 4, 2019
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 4, 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 preliminary provisions, providing for voter's
bill of rights; and, in election districts and polling
places, further providing for public buildings to be used
where possible and portable polling places.
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 the polling place is required by law to be open
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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 polling district, 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. The application must be made at least ten days before
the election.
(4) A voter may take the voter's children who are not yet
eighteen years of age into the voting booth.
(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 in an election.
(6) A voter who believes that 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 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
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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. This act shall take effect immediately.
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