PRINTER'S NO. 1262

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1201

Session of

2021

INTRODUCED BY ZIMMERMAN, B. MILLER, MILLARD, MALONEY, SCHMITT,

STAMBAUGH, GREINER, JAMES, MOUL, SCHLEGEL CULVER, RAPP,

R. BROWN, PICKETT, THOMAS, RYAN, COX, ROTHMAN, HICKERNELL,

"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 the Secretary of the Commonwealth, further

official election ballot; in voting machines, further

providing for form of ballot labels on voting machines; and,

in preparation for and conduct of primaries and elections,

further providing for publishing constitutional amendments.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Sections 201(c) and 201.1 of the act of June 3,

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

Code, are amended to read:

Section 201. Powers and Duties of the Secretary of the

and elections the names of the candidates for President and

Vice-President of the United States, presidential electors,

United States senators, representatives in Congress and all

State offices, including senators, representatives, and judges

of all courts of record, and delegates and alternate delegates

to National Conventions, and members of State committees, and

the form and wording of constitutional amendments, as prescribed

under section 201.2, or other questions to be submitted to the

electors of the State at large.

* * *

ballot question on the people of the Commonwealth. The

Legislative Reference Bureau shall publish the statement in the

Pennsylvania Bulletin and shall transmit the statement to the

Secretary of the Commonwealth.

(b) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall include [such

statement in his] the statement under subsection (a) in the

publication of a proposed constitutional amendment as required

by Article XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.

least three copies of [such] the statement under subsection (a)

be posted in or about the voting room outside the enclosed space

with the specimen ballots and other instructions and notices of

penalties.

(e) In election questions which affect only one county or

portion thereof, the county board of elections shall fulfill

these requirements in the place of the [Attorney General]

Legislative Reference Bureau and the Secretary of the

Commonwealth.

Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

publish the wording of the question in the Pennsylvania Bulletin

and transmit the wording of the question to the Secretary of the

Commonwealth.

Section 3. Sections 605, 1003(g), 1110(b) and 1201.2 of the

act are amended to read:

Section 605. Elections on Proposed Constitutional

Amendments.--Unless the General Assembly shall prescribe

otherwise with respect to any particular proposed amendment or

submitted to the qualified electors of the State, shall be

submitted to the qualified electors of the State for the purpose

aforesaid, at the first municipal or general election at which

such amendment or amendments may be legally submitted to the

electors, which election shall occur at least three months after

the date upon which such proposed amendment or amendments shall

have been agreed to for the second time by a majority of the

members elected to each house of the General Assembly, as

provided in Article Eighteen, section one of the Constitution.

Said election shall be conducted on said election day in the

Section 1003. Form of Official Election Ballot.--

* * *

(g) The official ballots shall vary in form only as the

names of districts, offices, candidates or the provisions of

this act may require. When constitutional amendments or other

questions are submitted to a vote of the electors, each

amendment or other question so submitted may be printed upon the

ballot below the groups of candidates for the various offices,

voted on by the electors of the State at large and as prescribed

under section 201.2, and by the county boards in other cases. To

the right of each question there shall be placed the words "yes"

and "no," together with appropriate squares to the right of each

for the convenient insertion of a cross mark.

Section 1110. Form of Ballot Labels on Voting Machines.--

* * *

(b) If the construction of the machine shall require it, the

ballot label for each candidate, group of candidates, political

party, or question, to be voted on, shall bear the designating

large and as prescribed under section 201.2, and by the county

election board in other cases.

* * *

Section 1201.2. Publishing Constitutional Amendments.--(a)

In accordance with the requirements of section 1 of Article XI

of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, the Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall cause to have published in the manner

prescribed all proposed amendments to the Constitution of

Commonwealth shall cause the explanation of the ballot question

transmitted to the Secretary under section 201.1 to be included

with the publication under subsection (a).

(c) As much of the money, from time to time, in the General

Fund as shall be deemed necessary by the Governor is hereby

appropriated to the Department of State to pay the costs of

[such] publications under this section.

Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.