PRINTER'S NO. 3805
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2700
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY KAUFER, OCTOBER 25, 2024
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, OCTOBER 25, 2024
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2 "An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3 special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4 primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5 and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6 imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7 courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8 imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9 revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10 repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11 elections,"
12 In preliminary provisions, further providing for
13 definitions and for publication of notices;
14 In the Secretary of the Commonwealth, further providing
15 for Voting Standards Development Board and for State Plan
16 Advisory Board;
17 In county boards of elections, further providing for
18 article heading, for county boards of elections and
19 membership, for powers and duties of county boards, for
20 records and documents to be open to public inspection and
21 proviso and for watchers or attorneys at sessions of county
22 board and candidates may be present;
23 In district election officers, further providing for
24 article heading, for district election boards and election,
25 for tie votes for judge and inspector, for clerks of election
26 and machine inspectors, for vacancies in election boards,
27 appointment, judge and majority inspector to be members of
28 majority party and minority inspector to be a member of
29 minority party, for election officers to be sworn, for
30 compensation of district election officers, for overseers of
31 election and for appointment of watchers;
32 In election districts and polling places, further
33 providing for polling places to be selected by county board;
34 In dates of elections and primaries and special
35 elections, further providing for general primary, candidates
 1 to be nominated and party officers to be elected, providing
2 for nonpartisan ballot candidates, further providing for
3 elections on proposed constitutional amendments and for
4 nominations for special election for representative in
5 Congress, senator and representative in the General Assembly
6 and member of council or legislative body of cities,
7 boroughs, towns and townships, providing for nominations for
8 special election for senator and representative in the
9 General Assembly and member of council or legislative body of
10 cities, boroughs, towns and townships and further providing
11 for number, form and requirements of nomination certificates
12 and for affidavits of candidates;
13 In qualifications of electors, further providing for
14 qualifications of electors at primaries;
15 In party organization, further providing for definition
16 of political parties and political bodies and for only
17 enrolled electors to vote at primaries or hold party offices
18 and repealing provisions related to organization of State
19 committee and rules, to filling of vacancy in State
20 committee, to election of national committeemen, to county
21 committees, rules and other party officers, to selection of
22 delegates to national conventions and forwarding of rules to
23 Secretary of Commonwealth, to delegate and alternate delegate
24 commitments, authorization required and petitions, to who
25 shall be declared elected members of national or State
26 committee and party offices, to party officer elected in case
27 of tie vote and to district committees;
28 In nomination of candidates, further providing for
29 determination and certification of Statewide and countywide
30 parties, for candidates to be nominated and party officers to
31 be elected at primaries and for municipal clerks and party
32 chairman to furnish information as to offices to be filled,
33 repealing provisions related to publication of notice of
34 officers to be nominated and elected and to nomination
35 petitions to be filed, further providing for petition may
36 consist of several sheets and statement of circulator and for
37 affidavits of candidates, repealing provisions related to
38 statement of candidates for delegates to national conventions
39 and further providing for number of signers required for
40 nomination petitions of candidates at primaries, for place
41 and time of filing nomination petitions and filing fees and
42 for which candidates nominated;
43 In ballots, further providing for article heading, for
44 official ballots to be used and for form of official primary
45 ballot, providing for form of official nonpartisan primary
46 ballot, further providing for form of official election
47 ballot, providing for form of official nonpartisan election
48 ballot, further providing for form of ballots and printing
49 ballots, repealing provisions related to placement of certain
50 candidates on ballots and voting machines, providing for form
51 of nonpartisan ballots, printing ballots, stubs and numbers
52 and further providing for forms of ballots on file and open
53 to public inspection and ballots and diagrams to be furnished
54 to candidates and parties;
55 In voting machines, further providing for definition of
56 terms, for installation of voting machines, for requirements
57 of voting machines, for form of ballot labels on voting
58 machines, for preparation of voting machines by county
59 election boards, for delivery of voting machines and supplies
60 by county election boards to election officers, for election
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 1 officers and polling places, for delivery of voting machine
2 keys to judge of election, for instruction of voters before
3 an election, for voting by ballot and for unofficial ballot
4 labels and repair of machine or use of paper ballots;
5 In electronic voting systems, further providing for
6 definitions, for requirements of electronic voting systems,
7 for forms, for supplies and preparation of the voting system
8 and of polling places, for election day procedures and the
9 process of voting, for post election procedures and for
10 returns;
11 In preparation for and conduct of primaries and
12 elections, further providing for notice of November
13 elections, for duties of common pleas court on days of
14 primaries and elections, for meeting of election officers on
15 day of election and duties of election officers, for opening
16 of polls, posting cards of instruction and notices of
17 penalties and voters' rights and examination of voting
18 machines, for manner of applying to vote, persons entitled to
19 vote, voter's certificates, entries to be made in district
20 register, numbered lists of voters and challenges, for method
21 of marking ballots and depositing same in districts in which
22 ballots are used, for instructions of voters and manner of
23 voting in districts in which voting machines are used, for
24 duties of election officers after the close of the polls in
25 districts in which ballots are used, for count and return of
26 votes in districts in which ballots are used, for what
27 ballots shall be counted, manner of counting and defective
28 ballots, for signing and disposition of returns, district
29 register and voting check list, posting and return of ballot
30 boxes and for canvass and return of votes in districts in
31 which voting machines are used and providing for general
32 runoff;
33 In voting by qualified absentee electors, further
34 providing for applications for official absentee ballots and
35 for absentee and mail-in electors files and lists;
36 In returns of primaries and elections, further providing
37 for place of meeting for computation of votes, notice, papers
38 to be prepared and assistants to be sworn and for computation
39 of returns by county board, certification and issuance of
40 certificates of election and repealing provisions related to
41 Secretary of the Commonwealth to certify votes of national
42 delegates and members of State committee and to Secretary of
43 the Commonwealth to certify presidential votes by
44 congressional districts;
45 In recounts and contests, further providing for opening
46 ballot boxes upon petition of electors alleging fraud or
47 error and deposit or bond; and
48 In penalties, further providing for refusal to administer
49 oath and acting without being sworn, for forging and
50 destroying ballots, for election officers refusing to permit
51 elector to vote in proper party at primaries, for prying into
52 ballots and for unlawful assistance in voting and repealing
53 provisions related to elector voting ballot of wrong party at
54 primary.
55 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
56 hereby enacts as follows:
57 Section 1. Sections 102(d), (f), (g.1) and (v), 106, 204(b)
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 1 (3) and (5) and 205, Article III heading, sections 301(b),
2 302(c), (e) and (m) and 308, Article IV heading and sections
3 401, 403, 404, 405 heading and (a), 406, 412.2(d), (e) and (f),
4 415, 417, 526(c) and 603 heading of the act of June 3, 1937
5 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, are
6 amended to read:
7 Section 102. Definitions.--The following words, when used in
8 this act, shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise
9 clearly apparent from the context:
10 * * *
11 (d) The words "district election board" or "election board"
12 shall mean the nonpartisan election officers required to conduct
13 primaries and elections in any election district in accordance
14 with the provisions of this act.
15 * * *
16 (f) The word "election" shall mean any general, municipal,
17 special, runoff or primary election, unless otherwise specified.
18 * * *
19 (g.1) The words "election officer" shall include the
20 nonpartisan judge of elections and the [majority and minority]
21 two nonpartisan inspectors elected or appointed by a county
22 board of elections and the clerk or machine inspector appointed
23 by a county board of elections.
24 * * *
25 (v) The words "special election" shall mean any election
26 other than a regular general, municipal, runoff or primary
27 election.
28 * * *
29 Section 106. Publication of Notices.--Whenever under the
30 provisions of this act notice is required to be given by
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 1 newspaper publication in any county or in any municipal
2 subdivision thereof, such notice shall be published in at least
3 two and not more than three newspapers of general circulation as
4 defined in the "Newspaper Advertising Act," approved May 16,
5 1929 (Pamphlet Laws 1784). [At least one of said newspapers
6 shall represent the majority party, and at least one shall
7 represent the minority party, if there be that many published
8 within the limits of such county or municipal subdivision. If
9 there are not two such newspapers, then publication shall be
10 made in at least either one newspaper of general circulation
11 representing the majority party or at least one newspaper of
12 general circulation representing the minority party, whichever
13 is published in such county, and at least one newspaper of
14 general circulation representing the other party published in an
15 adjacent county and circulating in such county or municipal
16 subdivision in which such notice is required to be published:
17 Provided, however, That if in any such county, or in any
18 municipal subdivision thereof, there are at least three
19 newspapers of general circulation published within the limits of
20 such county or municipal subdivision, the foregoing provisions
21 if this section shall be deemed complied with if publication
22 shall be made in all of the said newspapers in the county or
23 municipal subdivision, notwithstanding that all such newspapers
24 may represent either the majority party or the minority party.]
25 Whenever such notice relates to any matter or proceeding in
26 court or to the sale of bonds or increase of indebtedness, the
27 same shall also be published in the legal newspaper, if any, in
28 the proper county, provided publication can be made therein on
29 the same day or days as publication is made in newspapers of
30 general circulation.
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 1 Section 204. Voting Standards Development Board.--* * *
2 (b) The board shall be comprised of the following members:
3 * * *
4 (3) One county director of elections appointed by the
5 [Minority Leader] President pro tempore of the Senate, who shall
6 be from a county in which votes are cast on punch card voting
7 systems.
8 * * *
9 (5) One county director of elections appointed by the
10 [Minority Leader] Speaker of the House of Representatives, who
11 shall be from a county in which votes are cast on optical scan
12 voting systems.
13 * * *
14 Section 205. State Plan Advisory Board.--(a) There is
15 hereby established within the Department of State a State Plan
16 Advisory Board [comprised of fifteen members] for the purpose of
17 advising the Secretary of the Commonwealth on the development of
18 the State Plan required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002
19 (Public Law 107-252, [42 U.S.C. § 15301] 52 U.S.C. § 20901 et
20 seq.).
21 (b) The board shall be comprised of the following members:
22 (1) One director of elections from a county of the first
23 class.
24 (2) One director of elections from a county of the second
25 class.
26 [(3) The chairperson of the political party with the highest
27 number of registered voters in the Commonwealth.
28 (4) The chairperson of the political party with the second
29 highest number of registered voters in the Commonwealth.]
30 (5) Eleven members appointed by the Secretary of the
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 1 Commonwealth as follows:
2 (i) Seven directors of elections, one from a county of the
3 second class A and one each from a county of the third, fourth,
4 fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth class.
5 (ii) One representative of an organization of disabled
6 Pennsylvania veterans.
7 (iii) One representative of an organization of blind and
8 visually impaired Pennsylvanians.
9 (iv) Two representatives of the public at large, who shall
10 be registered electors of the Commonwealth.
11 (c) The board shall elect a chairman from among its members.
12 Each member appointed by the secretary shall serve for a term of
13 five years. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the
14 original appointment.
15 (d) The board shall meet as needed to fulfill the
16 requirements of this section.
17 (e) [Eight] Six members of the board shall constitute a
18 quorum. A vote of the majority of the members of the board is
19 required for the issuance of recommendations in accordance with
20 subsection (h).
21 (f) The board may establish any rules necessary for its
22 operation consistent with the provisions of subsection (e).
23 (g) The members of the board shall receive no compensation
24 for their services on the board but shall be reimbursed by the
25 department for ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in the
26 performance of their duties.
27 (h) The board shall have the power and duty to advise the
28 Secretary of the Commonwealth on the development of the State
29 Plan, which the secretary must develop and submit to the Federal
30 Election Assistance Commission in accordance with the Help
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 1 America Vote Act of 2002. The board shall make recommendations
2 on all aspects of the State Plan described in section 254 of the
3 Help America Vote Act of 2002.
4 ARTICLE III
5 Nonpartisan County Boards of Elections
6 Section 301. County Boards of Elections; Membership.--* * *
7 (b) In each county of the Commonwealth, the county board of
8 elections shall consist of the county commissioners of such
9 county ex officio, or any officials or board who are performing
10 or may perform the duties of the county commissioners, who shall
11 serve without additional compensation as such. Except in
12 counties of the first class, in counties which have adopted home
13 rule charters or optional plans the board of elections shall
14 consist of the members of the county body which performs
15 legislative functions unless the county charter or optional plan
16 provides for the appointment of the board of elections. [In
17 either case, there shall be minority representation on the
18 board. The county body which performs legisla