Regular Session 2023-2024 House Bill 0847 P.N. 0823

PRINTER'S NO. 823

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

847

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY CONKLIN, APRIL 10, 2023

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 10, 2023

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 voting by qualified absentee electors, further

providing for date of application for absentee ballot and for

canvassing of official absentee ballots and mail-in ballots;

in voting by qualified mail-in electors, further providing

for date of application for mail-in ballot; and, in Election

Integrity Grant Program, further providing for funding for

elections.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 1302.1(a) and (a.3)(1) and (2) of the act

of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania

Election Code, are amended to read:

Section 1302.1. Date of Application for Absentee Ballot.--

(a) Except as provided in subsection (a.3), applications for

absentee ballots shall be received in the office of the county

board of elections not earlier than fifty (50) days before the

primary or election, except that if a county board of elections

determines that it would be appropriate to its operational

needs, any applications for absentee ballots received more than

fifty (50) days before the primary or election may be processed

before that time. Applications for absentee ballots shall be

processed if received not later than five o'clock P.M. of the

[first Tuesday] fourteenth day prior to the day of any primary

or election.

(a.3) (1) The following categories of electors may apply

for an absentee ballot under this subsection, if otherwise

qualified:

(i) An elector whose physical disability or illness

prevented the elector from applying for an absentee ballot

before five o'clock P.M. on the [first Tuesday] fourteenth day

prior to the day of the primary or election.

(ii) An elector who, because of the elector's business,

duties or occupation, was unable to apply for an absentee ballot

before five o'clock P.M. on the [first Tuesday] fourteenth day

prior to the day of the primary or election.

(iii) An elector who becomes so physically disabled or ill

after five o'clock P.M. on the [first Tuesday] fourteenth day

prior to the day of the primary or election that the elector is

unable to appear at the polling place on the day of the primary

or election.

(iv) An elector who, because of the conduct of the elector's

business, duties or occupation, will necessarily be absent from

the elector's municipality of residence on the day of the

primary or election, which fact was not and could not reasonably

be known to the elector on or before five o'clock P.M. on the

[first Tuesday] fourteenth day prior to the day of the primary

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or election.

(2) An elector described in paragraph (1) may submit an

application for an absentee ballot at any time up until the time

of the closing of the polls on the day of the primary or

election. The application shall include a declaration describing

the circumstances that prevented the elector from applying for

an absentee ballot before five o'clock P.M. on the [first

Tuesday] fourteenth day prior to the day of the primary or

election or that prevent the elector from appearing at the

polling place on the day of the primary or election, and the

elector's qualifications under paragraph (1). The declaration

shall be made subject to the provisions of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904

(relating to unsworn falsification to authorities).

* * *

Section 2. Section 1308(g)(1)(ii), (1.1), (2) and (3) of the

act are amended and the subsection is amended by adding

paragraphs to read:

Section 1308. Canvassing of Official Absentee Ballots and

Mail-in Ballots.--* * *

(g) (1) * * *

(ii) An absentee ballot cast by any absentee elector as

defined in section 1301(i), (j), (k), (l), (m) and (n), an

absentee ballot under section [1302(a.3)] 1302.1(a.3) or a mail-

in ballot cast by a mail-in elector shall be canvassed in

accordance with this subsection if the absentee ballot or mail-

in ballot is received in the office of the county board of

elections no later than eight o'clock P.M. on the day of the

primary or election.

(1.1) The county board of elections shall meet no earlier

than [seven o'clock A.M. on] seven (7) days prior to election

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day to pre-canvass all ballots received prior to the meeting. A

county board of elections shall provide at least forty-eight

hours' notice of a pre-canvass meeting by publicly posting a

notice of a pre-canvass meeting on its publicly accessible

Internet website. [One] In accordance with paragraph (1.2), one

authorized representative of each candidate in an election, one

authorized representative of the county chairperson of each

political party and one representative [from] of each political

party shall be permitted to remain in the room in which the

absentee ballots and mail-in ballots are pre-canvassed. No

person observing, attending or participating in a pre-canvass

meeting may disclose the results of any portion of any pre-

canvass meeting prior to the close of the polls.

(1.2) An authorized representative under paragraph (1.1)

shall be provided meaningful access to view and observe the

entire process of pre-canvassing or canvassing. A county board

of elections shall designate an official to respond to concerns

reported by an authorized representative. The Department of

State shall establish a procedure for an authorized

representative to report a concern arising from a pre-canvass

meeting and then investigate and report on the concern raised.

(1.3) A county board of elections shall record the pre-

canvassing and canvassing meetings with audio and visual

recordings. The recordings under this paragraph shall be stored

as an encrypted file. The recording may be posted on the

county's publicly accessible Internet website in the encrypted

format. The password or encryption software may be distributed

as necessary.

(2) The county board of elections shall meet no earlier than

the close of polls on the day of the election and no later than

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eight o'clock A.M. the [third] day following the election to

begin canvassing absentee ballots and mail-in ballots not

included in the pre-canvass meeting. The meeting under this

paragraph shall continue until all absentee ballots and mail-in

ballots received prior to the close of the polls have been

canvassed. The county board of elections shall not record or

publish any votes reflected on the ballots prior to the close of

the polls. The canvass process shall continue through the eighth

day following the election for valid military-overseas ballots

timely received under 25 Pa.C.S. § 3511 (relating to receipt of

voted ballot). A county board of elections shall provide at

least forty-eight hours' notice of a canvass meeting by publicly

posting a notice on its publicly accessible Internet website.

One authorized representative of each candidate in an election

and one representative from each political party shall be

permitted to remain in the room in which the absentee ballots

and mail-in ballots are canvassed.

(3) When the county board meets to pre-canvass or canvass

absentee ballots and mail-in ballots under paragraphs (1), (1.1)

and (2), the board shall [examine]:

(i) Examine the declaration on the envelope of each ballot

not set aside under subsection (d) and shall compare the

information thereon with that contained in the "Registered

Absentee and Mail-in Voters File," the absentee voters' list

and/or the "Military Veterans and Emergency Civilians Absentee

Voters File," whichever is applicable.

(ii) If the county board has verified the proof of

identification as required under this act and is satisfied that

the declaration is sufficient and the information contained in

the "Registered Absentee and Mail-in Voters File," the absentee

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voters' list and/or the "Military Veterans and Emergency

Civilians Absentee Voters File" verifies his right to vote, [the

county board shall] provide a list of the names of electors

whose absentee ballots or mail-in ballots are to be pre-

canvassed or canvassed.

(iii) For an absentee ballot or mail-in ballot that the

declaration of the elector is incomplete, unsigned or undated,

notify the elector by mail, email, telephone or text message

that the elector's ballot is incomplete and will not be counted

unless action is taken by the elector prior to the closing of

polls on election day.

(iv) Place and seal an absentee ballot or mail-in ballot

that does not have a ballot envelope or has unidentifiable marks

on the envelope into an empty official election ballot envelope

and secure the envelope with the other removed official election

ballot envelopes to be tabulated.

(3.1) A county board of elections may use an automated

sorting or extracting machine to assist in the processing of

absentee ballots and mail-in ballots.

* * *

Section 3. Section 1302.1-D(a) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 1302.1-D. Date of application for mail-in ballot.

(a) General rule.--Applications for mail-in ballots shall be

received in the office of the county board of elections not

earlier than 50 days before the primary or election, except that

if a county board of elections determines that it would be

appropriate to the county board of elections' operational needs,

any applications for mail-in ballots received more than 50 days

before the primary or election may be processed before that

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time. Applications for mail-in ballots shall be processed if

received not later than five o'clock P.M. of the [first Tuesday]

fourteenth day prior to the day of any primary or election.

* * *

elector may submit an application for a mail-in ballot in person

at the office of the county board of elections not later than

five o'clock P.M. of the first Tuesday prior to the day of a

primary or election and the following process shall apply:

(1) The county board of elections shall immediately

determine the qualifications of the applicant by verifying

the proof of identification and comparing the information

provided on the application with the information contained on

the applicant's permanent registration card.

(2) If the board is satisfied that the applicant is

qualified to receive an official mail-in ballot, the

application shall be marked "approved."

(3) The elector shall receive an official mail-in ballot

and the two envelopes for the official mail-in ballot.

(4) The mail-in ballot shall be processed in accordance

with the other procedures outlined in this article.

Section 4. Section 1602-A(j)(1) of the act, added July 11,

2022 (P.L.1577, No.88), is amended to read:

Section 1602-A. Funding for elections.

* * *

(j) Grant agreement.--The grant agreement between the

department and the county under this section shall include the

following requirements for counties:

[(1) The county shall begin pre-canvassing at 7 a.m. on

election day and shall continue without interruption until

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each mail-in ballot and absentee ballot received by 7 a.m. on

election day is pre-canvassed.]

* * *

Section 5. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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