Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

PRINTER'S NO.    36
                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
                        SENATE BILL
                        No. 59
                                               Session of
                                                 2021
     INTRODUCED BY A. WILLIAMS, JANUARY 20, 2021
     REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 20, 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 dates of elections and primaries and special
    elections, further providing for municipal primary and
    officers to be nominated and providing for authorization of
    ranked choice voting in municipal elections conducted during
    November.
    The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 hereby enacts as follows:
    Section 1.    Section 604 of the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333,
 No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is amended to
 read:
    Section 604.    Municipal Primary; Officers to be Nominated.--
 There shall be a Municipal primary preceding each municipal
 election which shall be held on the third Tuesday of May in all
 odd-numbered years. Candidates for all offices to be filled at
 the ensuing municipal election shall be nominated at the
 Municipal primary, unless otherwise provided in section 604.1.
    Section 2.   The act is amended by adding a section to read:
    Section 604.1.   Authorization of Ranked Choice Voting in
 Municipal Elections Conducted During November.--(a)    (1)
 Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the governing
 body of a municipality may, by ordinance or resolution, as
 appropriate, authorize the use of the ranked choice voting
 method in municipal elections conducted during November, for any
 of its municipal offices in accordance with the provisions of
 this section, provided that the governing body eliminates the
 use of municipal primaries for the same offices under section
 604.
    (2)   The authorization described in paragraph (1) must occur
 not later than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the
 election for which the ranked choice voting method will be
 utilized.
    (3)   The ranked choice voting method may only be authorized
 for municipal elections conducted during November in which three
 or more candidates have been nominated or designated for a
 municipal office.
    (b)   (1)   For municipal offices subject to the ranked choice
 voting method, the ballot shall be simple and easy to understand
 and allow a voter to rank candidates for an office in order of
 choice. A voter may include not more than one write-in candidate
 among the voter's ranked choices for each office. If feasible,
 ballots shall be designed so that a voter may mark the voter's
 first choices in the same manner as that for offices not elected
 by the ranked choice voting method.
    (2)   Instructions on the ballot shall conform substantially
 to the following specifications, although subject to
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 modification, based on ballot design and voting machine:
    Vote for candidates by indicating your first-choice
    candidates in order of preference. Indicate your first choice
    by marking the number "1" beside a candidate's name, your
    second choice by marking the number "2" beside a candidate's
    name, your third choice by marking the number "3" beside a
    candidate's name and so on, for as many choices as you wish.
    You may choose to rank only one candidate of your first-
    choice candidate. Do not mark the same number beside more
    than one candidate. Do not skip numbers.
    (3)   A sample ballot for a municipal office subject to the
 ranked choice voting method shall illustrate the voting
 procedure for the ranked choice voting method. A sample ballot
 shall be included with each absentee ballot.
    (4)   The county board of elections for the municipality where
 the ranked choice voting method is authorized by the governing
 body shall insure that the necessary voting system, vote
 tabulation system or other similar or related equipment are
 available to accommodate the ranked choice voting method.
    (5)   The ranked choice voting method shall not be implemented
 in a municipal election conducted during November until the
 Secretary of the Commonwealth determines that the ballots and
 voting equipment are updated to accommodate the ranked choice
 voting method.
    (c)   The following procedure shall apply in determining the
 winner in a municipal election conducted during November for an
 office subject to the ranked choice voting method:
    (1)   The first choice marked on each ballot shall be counted
 initially by election officials. If one candidate receives a
 majority of the votes cast, excluding blank and void ballots,
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 that candidate shall be declared elected.
    (2)   If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice
 votes cast at the end of the initial count, the candidate
 receiving the fewest first-choice votes shall be eliminated.
 Each vote cast for the eliminated candidate shall be transferred
 to the candidate who was the voter's next choice on the ballot.
    (3)   Candidates with the fewest votes shall continue to be
 eliminated, with the votes for those candidates transferred to
 the candidate who was the voters' next choice on the ballot.
    (4)   If a ballot has no more available choices ranked on it,
 that ballot shall be declared exhausted. Where a ballot skips
 one or more numbers, that ballot shall be declared exhausted
 when the skipping of numbers is reached. A ballot with the same
 number for two or more candidates shall be declared exhausted
 when these double numbers are reached.
    (5)   In the case of a tie between candidates for last place
 and elimination occurring at any stage in the tabulation, the
 tie shall be resolved so as to eliminate the candidate who
 received the least number of votes at the previous stage of
 tabulation. In the case of a tie to which a previous stage does
 not apply, or the previous stage was also a tie, the tie shall
 be resolved in accordance with the provisions of section 1418.
 If the tie occurs when there are only two candidates remaining,
 the tie shall be resolved in accordance with the provisions of
 section 1418.
    (d)   Notwithstanding the requirements for filing nomination
 petitions for primary elections under Article IX, each candidate
 for the offices to be filled at municipal elections conducted
 during November for which the ranked choice voting method is
 authorized shall file nomination petitions in accordance with
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 the following:
    (1)   No candidate shall be required to be an enrolled member
 of any party in order to qualify for the ballot or circulate
 nomination petitions for an office to be filled at municipal
 elections conducted during November for which the ranked choice
 voting method is authorized.
    (2)   Each candidate shall circulate and file the nomination
 petition with the Secretary of the Commonwealth in an amount of
 time consistent with the number of days permitted for
 circulation and filing of nomination petitions under Article IX
 and on a form prescribed by the Department of State.
    (3)   Each candidate shall obtain the minimum number of
 signatures for the office to be filled as required under section
 912.1 and by electors who are registered to vote within the
 election district referred to in the nomination petition,
 regardless of whether the signing elector is an enrolled member
 of any party.
    (e)   A governing body that authorizes the ranked choice
 voting method in accordance with this section shall conduct a
 voter education campaign on the ranked choice voting system to
 familiarize voters with the ballot design, method of voting and
 advantages of determining a majority winner in a single
 election. The governing body shall use public service
 announcements and seek other media cooperation to the maximum
 extent practicable.
    (f)   All municipal elections conducted during November in
 which the ranked choice voting method is authorized by this
 section shall be subject to all the other provisions of this act
 and all other applicable laws relating to elections, so far as
 is applicable and not inconsistent with this section.
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    (g)   As used in this section, the following words and phrases
 shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
    "Continuing candidate" means a candidate who has not been
 defeated or elected.
    "Ranked choice voting method" means a method of casting and
 tabulating votes that simulates the ballot counts that would
 occur if all voters participated in a series of runoff
 elections, whereby the voters rank candidates according to the
 order of their choice and, if no candidate has received a
 majority of votes cast, then the candidate with the fewest first
 choice votes is eliminated and the remaining candidates advance
 to another counting round. In every round, each ballot is
 counted as one vote for the highest-ranked continuing candidate.
    Section 3.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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Statutes/Laws affected: 
Printer's No. 0036: P.L.1333, No.320