PRINTER'S NO. 1061
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 978
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY GAYDOS, PICKETT, KAUFFMAN, KUZMA, KRUPA, GROVE,
ZIMMERMAN AND ROWE, MARCH 19, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 19, 2025
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," in district election officers, further providing
12 for election officers to be sworn; in dates of elections and
13 primaries and special elections, further providing for
14 affidavits of candidates; in nomination of candidates,
15 further providing for petition may consist of several sheets
16 and statement of circulator, for affidavits of candidates,
17 for examination of nomination petitions, certificates and
18 papers and return of rejected nomination petitions,
19 certificates and papers, for vacancy in party nomination by
20 failure to pay filing fee or for failure to file loyalty
21 oath, for affidavits of candidates, for filling of certain
22 vacancies in public office by means of nomination
23 certificates and nomination papers and for substituted
24 nominations to fill certain vacancies for a November
25 election; in ballots, further providing for form of ballots
26 and printing ballots; in returns of primaries and elections,
27 further providing for manner of computing irregular ballots;
28 and replacing references to "justice of the peace" with
29 "magisterial district judge."
30 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
31 hereby enacts as follows:
 1 Section 1. Sections 406, 630.1, 909, 910, 976, 978.1, 981.1,
2 993(a) and (b), 998(a) and (b), 1004 and 1405 of the act of June
3 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election
4 Code, are amended to read:
5 Section 406. Election Officers to Be Sworn.--All judges,
6 inspectors, clerks of election and machine inspectors shall,
7 before entering upon their duties at any primary or election, be
8 duly sworn in the presence of each other and of the watchers and
9 overseers, if any. The judge shall first be sworn by the
10 minority inspector or by a magistrate, alderman or [justice of
11 the peace] magisterial district judge, and the inspectors,
12 clerks and machine inspectors shall then be sworn by the judge.
13 Each of them shall forthwith sign in duplicate the oath taken by
14 him upon forms to be furnished by the county board, and the same
15 shall be attested by the officer who administered the oath.
16 Section 630.1. Affidavits of Candidates.--Each candidate for
17 any State, county, city, borough, incorporated town, township,
18 school district or poor district office, or for the office of
19 United States Senator or Representative in Congress, selected as
20 provided in section 630 of this act, shall file with the
21 nomination certificate an affidavit stating--(a) his residence,
22 with street and number, if any, and his post-office address; (b)
23 his election district, giving city, borough, town or township;
24 (c) the name of the office for which he consents to be a
25 candidate; (d) that he is eligible for such office; (e) that he
26 will not knowingly violate any provision of this act, or of any
27 law regulating and limiting election expenses and prohibiting
28 corrupt practices in connection therewith; (f) unless he is a
29 candidate for judge of a court of common pleas, the Philadelphia
30 Municipal Court [or for the office of school board in a district
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 1 where that office is elective] or for the office of [justice of
2 the peace] magisterial district judge, that he is not a
3 candidate for the same office of any party or political body
4 other than the one designated in such certificate; (g) that he
5 is aware of the provisions of section 1626 of this act requiring
6 election and post-election reporting of campaign contributions
7 and expenditures; and (h) that he is not a candidate for an
8 office which he already holds, the term of which is not set to
9 expire in the same year as the office subject to the affidavit.
10 Section 909. Petition May Consist of Several Sheets;
11 Statement of Circulator.--Said nomination petition may be on one
12 or more sheets, and different sheets must be used for signers
13 resident in different counties. If more than one sheet is used,
14 they shall be bound together when offered for filing if they are
15 intended to constitute one petition, and each sheet shall be
16 numbered consecutively beginning with number one, at the foot of
17 each page. In cases of petitions for delegate or alternate
18 delegate to National conventions, each sheet shall contain a
19 notation indicating the presidential candidate to whom he is
20 committed or the term "uncommitted." Each sheet shall have
21 appended thereto the statement of the circulator of each sheet,
22 setting forth, subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904
23 (relating to unsworn falsification to authorities)--(a) that he
24 or she is a qualified elector of the Commonwealth, who is duly
25 registered and enrolled as a member of the party designated in
26 said petition, unless said petition relates to the nomination of
27 a candidate for a court of common pleas, for the Philadelphia
28 Municipal Court or for [justice of the peace] magisterial
29 district judge, in which event the circulator need not be a duly
30 registered and enrolled member of the designated party; (b) his
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 1 residence, giving city, borough or township, with street and
2 number, if any; (c) that the signers thereto signed with full
3 knowledge of the contents of the petition; (d) that their
4 respective residences are correctly stated therein; (e) that
5 they all reside in the county named in the statement; (f) that
6 each signed on the date set opposite his name; and (g) that, to
7 the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief, the signers
8 are qualified electors and duly registered and enrolled members
9 of the designated party of the State, or of the political
10 district, as the case may be.
11 Section 910. Affidavits of Candidates.--Each candidate for
12 any State, county, city, borough, incorporated town, township,
13 ward, school district, poor district, election district, party
14 office, party delegate or alternate, or for the office of United
15 States Senator or Representative in Congress, shall file with
16 his nomination petition his affidavit stating--(a) his
17 residence, with street and number, if any, and his post-office
18 address; (b) his election district, giving city, borough, town
19 or township; (c) the name of the office for which he consents to
20 be a candidate; (d) that he is eligible for such office; (e)
21 that he will not knowingly violate any provision of this act, or
22 of any law regulating and limiting nomination and election
23 expenses and prohibiting corrupt practices in connection
24 therewith; (f) unless he is a candidate for judge of a court of
25 common pleas, the Philadelphia Municipal Court [or for the
26 office of school director in a district where that office is
27 elective] or for the office of [justice of the peace]
28 magisterial district judge that he is not a candidate for
29 nomination for the same office of any party other than the one
30 designated in such petition; (g) if he is a candidate for a
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 1 delegate, or alternate delegate, member of State committee,
2 National committee or party officer, that he is a registered and
3 enrolled member of the designated party; (h) if he is a
4 candidate for delegate or alternate delegate the presidential
5 candidate to whom he is committed or the term "uncommitted"; (i)
6 that he is aware of the provisions of section 1626 of this act
7 requiring pre-election and post-election reporting of campaign
8 contributions and expenditures; and (j) that he is not a
9 candidate for an office which he already holds, the term of
10 which is not set to expire in the same year as the office
11 subject to the affidavit. In cases of petitions for delegate and
12 alternate delegate to National conventions, the candidate's
13 affidavit shall state that his signature to the delegate's
14 statement, as hereinafter set forth, if such statement is signed
15 by said candidate, was affixed to the sheet or sheets of said
16 petition prior to the circulation of same. In the case of a
17 candidate for nomination as President of the United States, it
18 shall not be necessary for such candidate to file the affidavit
19 required in this section to be filed by candidates, but the
20 post-office address of such candidate shall be stated in such
21 nomination petition.
22 Section 976. Examination of Nomination Petitions,
23 Certificates and Papers; Return of Rejected Nomination
24 Petitions, Certificates and Papers.--When any nomination
25 petition, nomination certificate or nomination paper is
26 presented in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth or
27 of any county board of elections for filing within the period
28 limited by this act, it shall be the duty of the said officer or
29 board to examine the same. No nomination petition, nomination
30 paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed
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 1 if--(a) it contains material errors or defects apparent on the
2 face thereof, or on the face of the appended or accompanying
3 affidavits; or (b) it contains material alterations made after
4 signing without the consent of the signers; or (c) it does not
5 contain a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
6 Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Commonwealth or the
7 county board of elections, although not hereby required so to
8 do, may question the genuineness of any signature or signatures
9 appearing thereon, and if he or it shall thereupon find that any
10 such signature or signatures are not genuine, such signature or
11 signatures shall be disregarded in determining whether the
12 nomination petition, nomination paper or nomination certificate
13 contains a sufficient number of signatures as required by law;
14 or (d) in the case of nomination petitions, if nomination
15 petitions have been filed for printing the name of the same
16 person for the same office, except the office of judge of a
17 court of common pleas, the Philadelphia Municipal Court [or the
18 office of school director in districts where that office is
19 elective] or the office of [justice of the peace] magisterial
20 district judge upon the official ballot of more than one
21 political party; or (e) in the case of nomination papers, if the
22 candidate named therein has filed a nomination petition for any
23 public office for the ensuing primary, or has been nominated for
24 any such office by nomination papers previously filed; or (f) if
25 the nomination petitions or papers are not accompanied by the
26 filing fee or certified check required for said office; or (g)
27 in the case of nomination papers, the appellation set forth
28 therein is identical with or deceptively similar to the words
29 used by any existing party or by any political body which has
30 already filed nomination papers for the same office, or if the
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 1 appellation set forth therein contains part of the name, or an
2 abbreviation of the name or part of the name of an existing
3 political party, or of a political body which has already filed
4 nomination papers for the same office. The invalidity of any
5 sheet of a nomination petition or nomination paper shall not
6 affect the validity of such petition or paper if a sufficient
7 petition or paper remains after eliminating such invalid sheet.
8 The action of said officer or board in refusing to receive and
9 file any such nomination petition, certificate or paper, may be
10 reviewed by the court upon an application to compel its
11 reception as of the date when it was presented to the office of
12 such officer or board: Provided, however, That said officer or
13 board shall be entitled to a reasonable time in which to examine
14 any petitions, certificates or papers, and to summon and
15 interrogate the candidates named therein, or the persons
16 presenting said petitions, certificates or papers, and his or
17 their retention of same for the purpose of making such
18 examination or interrogation shall not be construed as an
19 acceptance or filing.
20 Upon completion of any examination, if any nomination
21 petition, certificate or paper is found to be defective, it
22 shall forthwith be rejected and returned to the candidate or one
23 of the candidates named therein, together with a statement of
24 the reasons for such rejection:
25 Provided further, That no nomination petition, nomination
26 paper or nomination certificate shall be permitted to be filed,
27 if the political party or political body referred to therein
28 shall be composed of a group of electors whose purposes or aims,
29 or one of whose purposes or aims, is the establishment, control,
30 conduct, seizure or overthrow of the Government of the
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 1 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States of America by
2 the use of force, violence, military measure or threats of one
3 or more of the foregoing. The authority to reject such
4 nomination petition, paper or certificate for this reason shall,
5 when filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, be vested in
6 a committee composed of the Governor, the Attorney General and
7 the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and when filed with any
8 county board of elections shall be vested in such board. If in
9 such case the committee or board, as the case may be, shall
10 conclude that the acceptance of such nomination petition, paper
11 or certificate should be refused, it shall within two days of
12 the filing of such nomination petition, paper or certificate fix
13 a place and a time five days in advance for hearing the matter,
14 and notice thereof shall be given to all parties affected
15 thereby. At the time and place so fixed the committee or board,
16 as the case may be, shall hear testimony, but shall not be bound
17 by technical rules of evidence. The testimony presented shall be
18 stenographically recorded and made a part of the record of the
19 committee or board. Within two days after such hearing the
20 committee or board, if satisfied upon competent evidence that
21 the said nomination petition, paper or certificate is not
22 entitled to be accepted and filed, it shall announce its
23 decision and immediately notify the parties affected thereby.
24 Failure to announce decision within two days after such hearing
25 shall be conclusive that such nomination petition, paper or
26 certificate has been accepted and filed. The decision of said
27 committee or board in refusing to accept and file such
28 nomination petition, paper or certificate may be reviewed by the
29 court upon an application to compel its reception as of the date
30 when presented to the Secretary of the Commonwealth or such
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 1 board. The application shall be made within two days of the time
2 when such decision is announced. If the application is properly
3 made, any judge of said court may fix a time and place for
4 hearing the matter in dispute, of which notice shall be served
5 with a copy of said application upon the Secretary of the
6 Commonwealth or the county board of elections, as the case may
7 be. At the time so fixed, the court, or any judge thereof
8 assigned for the purpose, shall hear the case de novo. If after
9 such hearing the said court shall find that the decision of the
10 committee or the board was erroneous, it shall issue its mandate
11 to the committee or board to correct its decision and to accept
12 and file the nomination paper, petition or certificate. From any
13 decision of the court an appeal may be taken within two days
14 after the entry thereof. It shall be the duty of the said court
15 to fix the hearing and to announce its decision within such
16 period of time as will permit the Secretary of the Commonwealth
17 or the county board of elections to permit the names of the
18 candidates affected by the court's decision to be printed on the
19 ballot, if the court should so determine.
20 Section 978.1. Vacancy in Party Nomination by Failure to Pay
21 Filing Fee or for Failure to File Loyalty Oath.--Every person
22 nominated at any primary election as the candidate of any
23 political party for any office, other than a borough, town,
24 township, school district or poor district office, or the office
25 of [justice of the peace] magisterial district judge, or