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PRINTER'S NO. 109
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
143
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY DIAMOND, BERNSTINE, BOROWICZ, BROOKS, SCHLEGEL
CULVER, GROVE, HAMM, IRVIN, JAMES, JOZWIAK, KAUFFMAN, PYLE,
ROTHMAN, ROWE, RYAN, SAYLOR, SMITH AND STAMBAUGH,
JANUARY 13, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 13, 2021
AN ACT
Amending Title 25 (Elections) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes, in registration system, further providing for SURE
system; in voter registration, further providing for approval
of registration applications; in records, further providing
for public information lists; and, in changes in records,
further providing for removal notices, for transfer of
registration and for death of registrant.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1222 of Title 25 of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a subsection to read:
§ 1222. SURE system.
* * *
(c.1) Coordination with local registrars.--
(1) The department shall establish a process to cross-
reference the department's database of registered electors
with death record information from local registrars, which
shall be conducted at least once each calendar month. A
registered elector whose first and last name, date of birth
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and last four digits of his Social Security number are found
on a death record shall be subject to immediate removal from
the SURE system.
(2) The local commission shall notify the elector by
mail of its action.
(3) No registered elector may be removed within 30 days
of an election.
(4) As used in this subsection, the term "local
registrar" means a local registrar under the supervision of
the Department of Health in accordance with Article III of
the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304, No.66), known as the Vital
Statistics Law of 1953.
* * *
Section 2. Section 1328(d) of Title 25 is amended by adding
a paragraph to read:
§ 1328. Approval of registration applications.
* * *
(d) Transfer of registration records.--
* * *
(3) Upon receipt of a notice of address change in
accordance with section 1323(a)(3) (relating to application
with driver's license application), the commission of the
individual's former county of residence shall investigate.
Upon verifying that the registered elector has moved to
another state of residence, the commission shall cancel the
registered elector's registration. The commission shall
promptly update information contained in their registration
records.
* * *
Section 3. Section 1404 of Title 25 is amended by adding a
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subsection to read:
§ 1404. Public information lists.
* * *
(d) Updated l ists for absentee or mail-in ballot
applications.--An organization or individual seeking to
circulate absentee ballot or mail-in ballot applications for the
selection, nomination, election or appointment of an individual
to a Federal, State or local public office or office in a
political organization must request and use updated voter
registration data from the Department of State for circulating
absentee ballot or mail-in ballot applications.
Section 4. Section 1501(b) introductory paragraph of Title
25 is amended and the subsection is amended by adding a
paragraph to read:
§ 1501. Removal notices.
* * *
(b) Use.--A registered elector who removes residence from
one place to another [within the same county] must notify the
commission by filing a removal notice under subsection (a) or a
signed request for renewal that contains the information
required in subsection (a) with the commission not later than
the registration deadline before an election. If mailed, the
notice or request must be postmarked not later than the deadline
for registration or, in the case of an illegible or missing
postmark, received within five days of the close of
registration. The following apply:
* * *
(4) A registered elector who removes residence from this
Commonwealth to another state and who is not registered to
vote in the new state of residence shall be permitted to vote
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in the election district in this Commonwealth if, at the time
of signing the elector's certificate, the elector files with
the judge of election a signed affirmation declaring the
elector's new residence. A registered elector may vote in the
election district of the elector's former residence not more
than one time following the elector's removal. Affirmations
made under this paragraph shall be returned to the commission
of the elector's former county of residence and that
commission shall proceed to transfer the registration of the
elector under section 1502. Upon receipt of the address
change under section 1323(a)(3) (relating to application with
driver's license application), the commission of the
elector's former county of residence shall immediately
process the transfer of the elector in accordance with
section 1328. The commission shall promptly update
information contained in its registration records.
Section 5. Section 1502(a) of Title 25 is amended by adding
a paragraph to read:
§ 1502. Transfer of registration.
(a) General rule.--Upon timely receipt of notification of
removal under section 1501(b) (relating to removal notices), the
commission shall proceed as follows:
* * *
(4.1) When a registered elector has filed with a
commission a notice that the elector has moved from this
Commonwealth to another state, if the signature appears
authentic, the commission shall cancel the registration of
the elector and notify the elector's new state of residence.
* * *
Section 6. Section 1505(b) of Title 25 is amended to read:
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§ 1505. Death of registrant.
* * *
(b) Other sources.--A commission may also utilize published
newspaper obituaries, letters testamentary [or], letters of
administration issued by the office of the registrar of wills or
any other source of verified data to cancel and remove the
registration of an elector, provided that such removals are
uniform, nondiscriminatory and in compliance with the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-110, 42 U.S.C. § 1973 et
seq.). The commission shall promptly update information
contained in its registration records.
* * *
Section 7. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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