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PRINTER'S NO. 816
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
690
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY LAUGHLIN, COLLETT, DiSANTO, KEARNEY, YAW, SCHWANK,
K. WARD, YUDICHAK, BOSCOLA AND COSTA, MAY 28, 2021
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, MAY 28, 2021
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, further providing for
definitions; 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, further providing for candidates to be nominated
and party officers to be elected at primaries and providing
for procedure for unenrolled electors to cast primary
ballots; and, in preparation for and conduct of primaries and
elections, further providing for manner of applying to vote,
persons entitled to vote, voter's certificates, entries to be
made in district register, numbered lists of voters and
challenges.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 102 of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is amended by
adding a definition to read:
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Section 102. Definitions.--The following words, when used in
this act, shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise
clearly apparent from the context:
* * *
(z.7) The words "unenrolled elector" shall mean a person who
is registered to vote within an election district having
selected "none" or "no affiliation" in regard to a political
party on their Pennsylvania voter registration application .
Section 2. Sections 702, 802 and 902 of the act are amended
to read:
Section 702. Qualifications of Electors at Primaries.--(a)
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].
(b) Unenrolled electors shall be permitted to vote in
primary elections in accordance with the procedures specified in
sections 902.1 and 1231 .
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 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
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of President of the United States, 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 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 shall have the opportunity at the Spring primary in such
years to vote his preference for one person to be the candidate
of his political party for President.]. In a primary election
conducted in this Commonwealth, all unenrolled electors shall
have the opportunity to vote in accordance with the procedures
set forth in section 902.1.
Section 3. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 902.1. Procedure for Unenrolled Electors to Cast
Primary Ballots.--Upon confirming an unenrolled elector's status
as a registered elector, the elections officer shall ask the
unenrolled elector in which political party's primary the
unenrolled elector desires to vote, and the elections officer
upon reply shall record the unenrolled elector's selection upon
the unenrolled elector's certificate and for the purpose of that
ballot only shall be deemed enrolled in that party. The
unenrolled elector shall not sign the voter's certificate until
the elections officer has recorded the unenrolled elector's
desired political party on the certificate.
Section 4. Section 1210(d) of the act is amended to read:
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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 resides, nor shall he be permitted to vote in the
election district in which he resides, unless he has been
personally registered as an elector and his 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
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 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 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) an unenrolled elector, in which case the person may vote
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for the candidates of the party of the unenrolled elector's
choice in accordance with the procedures set forth in section
902.1. The unenrolled elector's choice of party at one primary
election shall not preclude the unenrolled elector from choosing
a different party in a subsequent primary election.
* * *
Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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