§ 1209Opening of Polls; Posting Cards of Instruction and Notices of Penalties and Voters' Rights; Examination of Voting Machines

(Hdg. amended May 12, 2006, P.L.178, No.45)
 (a) In districts in which ballots are used, the election
officers shall, after taking the oath, open the ballot boxes
which have been furnished to them, and burn and totally destroy
all the ballots and other papers which they may find therein,
before the opening of the polls.
   Whenever during any emergency, it becomes necessary to save
waste paper on account of a shortage thereof, the Governor of
the Commonwealth may, by proclamation, suspend the foregoing
provisions relating to the destruction of ballots and papers,
and in that case, the election board shall set the ballots and
other papers aside and they shall be collected and disposed of
by such means and in such manner as may be determined by the
county election board. When the polling place is opened, the
ballot box shall be securely locked, and shall not be opened
until the close of the polls, as provided in section 1221. At
the opening of the polls the seals of the packages furnished
by the county board shall be publicly broken, and the said
packages shall be opened by the judge of election. The cards
of instruction and notices of penalties shall be immediately
posted in each voting compartment, and not less than three such
cards and notices of penalties and voters' rights, and not less
than five specimen ballots (at primaries five of each party),
shall be immediately posted in or about the voting room outside
the enclosed space, and such cards of instruction, notices of
penalties and specimen ballots shall be given to any elector
at his request, so long as there are any on hand.
   ((a) amended May 12, 2006, P.L.178, No.45)
   (a.1) The notice pertaining to voters' rights shall contain
the following in boldface type:
   An elector shall have the right to cast his or her vote:
   without the use or threat of force, violence or restraint;

   without the infliction or threat of infliction of injury;
   without any intimidation or coercion upon or against his or
her person; or
   without any other action intended to deny any individual's
right to vote.
   ((a.1) added May 12, 2006, P.L.178, No.45)
   (b) (1) In districts in which voting machines are used,
at the opening of the polls, the seals of the package furnished
by the county board shall be publicly broken, and the said
package shall be opened by the judge of election. Not less than
three cards of instruction and notices of penalties, and not
less than two diagrams of the face of the machine shall be
immediately posted in or about the voting room outside the
enclosed space, and such cards and notices of penalties shall
be given to any elector at his request, so long as there are
any on hand. Thereupon the election officers, before opening
the envelope containing the keys which unlock the operating
mechanism and registering counters or counter compartment of
the voting machine, shall examine the number of the seal on the
machine and the number registered on the protective counter or
device, and shall see whether they are the same as the numbers
written on the envelope containing the keys. If either number
shall be found not to agree, the envelope shall remain unopened
until the election officers shall have notified the proper
custodian of voting machines, or the county board, and until
the custodian or some other person authorized by the county
board shall have presented himself at the polling place for the
purpose of reexamining the machine, and shall have certified
that it is properly arranged. But if the numbers on the seal
and the protective counter or device shall both be found to
agree with the numbers on the envelope, the envelope shall be
opened, and where the voting machine provided is not equipped
with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, the election
officers shall examine the registering counters, and, for that
purpose, shall open the doors concealing such counters, if the
construction of the voting machine shall so require, and, before
the polls are opened, the judge and each inspector shall
carefully examine every counter, and shall see that it registers
zero (000), and shall allow the overseers and watchers to
examine the counters. When the voting machine provided is
equipped with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, and
requires the simultaneous use of three keys to unlock the
registering counters or counter compartment, the judge of
election shall deliver one of the two keys, aforesaid, to the
minority inspector to be retained by him as hereinafter
provided, and shall then print at least two proof sheets, one
of which the judge and each inspector shall carefully examine
to ascertain whether every counter registers zero (000), and
shall then preserve said proof sheets to be signed by them and
returned to the county election board, with the duplicate return
sheet, and shall sign and post the other proof sheet upon the
wall of the polling place, where it shall remain until the polls
are closed. The key delivered by the judge of election to the
minority inspector as aforesaid, shall be retained by the
minority inspector until the polls have been closed, and the
voting and counting mechanism of the machine shall have been
locked and sealed against voting, and shall then be returned
to the judge of election, for return by him to the county
election board, as hereinafter provided.
   (2) If the ballot labels containing the names of offices,
parties, political bodies, candidates, and questions, shall not
be in their proper places on the voting machine, the election

officers, forthwith, shall notify the proper custodian of voting
machines, or the county board, and the machine shall not be
used until the custodian, or some other person authorized by
the county board, shall have supplied ballot labels, as herein
prescribed. If the ballot labels for a voting machine shall not
be delivered at the time required, or if after delivery, they
shall be lost, destroyed, or stolen, the county board or
custodian shall cause other ballot labels to be prepared,
printed or written, as nearly in the form of the official ballot
labels as practicable, and shall cause such ballot labels to
be used in the same manner, as nearly as may be, as the official
ballot labels would have been used.
   (3) The judge, each inspector of election, each clerk of
election and the overseers, if any, shall sign a certificate
showing--(1) the identifying number or other designation of the
voting machine; (2) the delivery of the keys in a sealed
envelope; (3) the number on the seal upon the machine; (4) the
number registered on the protective counter or device; (5) that
all of the counters were set at zero (000); and (6) that the
ballot labels are properly placed in the machine, which
certificate shall be returned by the judge of election to the
county board with the other certificates, as hereinafter
provided.
   (4) The machine shall remain locked against voting until
the polls are opened, and shall not be operated except by
electors in voting. If any counter is found not to register
zero (000), the election officer shall immediately notify the
custodian, or the county board, who shall, if practicable,
adjust or cause the counters to be adjusted at zero (000), but,
if it shall be found impracticable for the custodian or other
person authorized by the county board to arrive in time so to
adjust such counters before the time set for opening the polls,
the election officer shall immediately make a written record
of the designation or designating letter or number of such
counter, together with the number registered thereon, herein
below called the initial number, and shall sign and post the
same upon the wall of the polling place, where it shall remain
until the polls are closed: Provided, however, That if the
voting machine used is equipped with mechanism for printing
paper proof sheets, in any case where any counter is shown by
such proof sheet not to register zero (000), if it shall be
found impracticable to have such counter adjusted before the
time set for opening the polls, the election officer shall sign
such printed proof sheet and post the same upon the wall of the
polling place where it shall remain until the polls are closed;
and, in filling out the returns of the election, if the final
number of such counter is greater than the initial number, the
election officer shall subtract the initial number from the
final number, and enter the difference on the returns as the
vote for the candidate or on the question represented by such
counter; if the final number of such counter is less than the
initial number, the election officers shall add one thousand
to the final number and shall subtract the initial number from
the sum so ascertained, and shall enter upon the returns as the
vote for the candidate or on the question represented by such
counter the final number plus one thousand less the initial
number.
   (5) The exterior of the voting machine, and every part of
the polling place, shall be in plain view of the election
officers, overseers and watchers. The voting machine shall be
located in the polling place, at least six feet back of the
guard-rail or barrier, in such a position that, unless its

construction shall require otherwise, the ballot labels on the
face of the machine can be seen plainly by the election
officers, overseers and watchers when the machine is not
occupied by a voter.
   (6) The election officers shall not themselves be, nor allow
any other person to be, in any position that will permit any
one to see or ascertain how an elector votes, or how he has
voted. The election officers, or one of them, shall inspect the
face of the machine at frequent intervals, to see that the
ballot labels are in their proper places, and that the machine
has not been injured or tampered with.
   (7) During a primary or election, the door, or other
covering of the compartment containing the counters of the
machine shall not be unlocked or opened, or the counters
exposed, except by action of the proper custodian of voting
machines, for good and sufficient reason, a statement of which
shall be made in writing and signed by him and attested by the
signatures of the election officers and overseers, or except
upon the written order of the county board, for good and
sufficient reason, which shall be stated in the order.