TrustVoting Atlas

(a) At every
primary and election each elector who appears to vote and who
desires to vote shall first present to an election officer proof
of identification.
The election officer shall examine the proof of identification
presented by the elector and sign an affidavit stating that
this has been done.
   ((a) amended Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195, No.18)
   (a.1) ((a.1) deleted by amendment Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195,
No.18)
   (a.2) If any of the following apply, the elector shall be
permitted to cast a provisional ballot in accordance with
subsection (a.4):
   (1) The elector is unable to produce proof of
identification:
   (i) on the grounds that the elector is indigent and unable
to obtain proof of identification without the payment of a fee;
or
   (ii) on any other grounds.
   (2) The elector's proof of identification is challenged by
the judge of elections.
   ((a.2) amended Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195, No.18)
   (a.3) (1) All electors, including any elector that shows
proof of identification pursuant to subsection (a), shall
subsequently sign a voter's certificate in blue, black or
blue-black ink with a fountain pen or ball point pen, and,
unless he is a State or Federal employe who has registered under
any registration act without declaring his residence by street
and number, he shall insert his address therein, and hand the
same to the election officer in charge of the district register.
   (2) Such election officer shall thereupon announce the
elector's name so that it may be heard by all members of the
election board and by all watchers present in the polling place
and shall compare the elector's signature on his voter's
certificate with his signature in the district register. If,
upon such comparison, the signature upon the voter's certificate
appears to be genuine, the elector who has signed the
certificate shall, if otherwise qualified, be permitted to vote:
Provided, That if the signature on the voter's certificate, as
compared with the signature as recorded in the district

register, shall not be deemed authentic by any of the election
officers, such elector shall not be denied the right to vote
for that reason, but shall be considered challenged as to
identity and required to make the affidavit and produce the
evidence as provided in subsection (d) of this section.
   (3) When an elector has been found entitled to vote, the
election officer who examined his voter's certificate and
compared his signature shall sign his name or initials on the
voter's certificate, shall, if the elector's signature is not
readily legible, print such elector's name over his signature,
and his number in the order of admission to the voting machines,
and at primaries a letter or abbreviation designating the party
in whose primary he votes shall also be entered by one of the
election officers or clerks. ((3) amended Nov. 27, 2019,
P.L.673, No.94)
   (4) As each voter is found to be qualified and votes, the
election officer in charge of the district register shall write
or stamp the date of the election or primary, his number in the
order of admission to the voting machines, and at primaries a
letter or abbreviation designating the party in whose primary
he votes, and shall sign his name or initials in the proper
space on the registration card of such voter contained in the
district register. ((4) amended Nov. 27, 2019, P.L.673, No.94)
   (5) As each voter votes, his name in the order of voting
shall be recorded in two (2) numbered lists of voters provided
for that purpose, with the addition of a note of each voter's
party enrollment after his name at primaries.
   ((a.3) amended Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195, No.18)
   (a.4) (1) At all elections an individual who claims to be
properly registered and eligible to vote at the election
district but whose name does not appear on the district register
and whose registration cannot be determined by the inspectors
of election or the county election board shall be permitted to
cast a provisional ballot. Individuals who appear to vote shall
be required to produce proof of identification pursuant to
subsection (a) and if unable to do so shall be permitted to
cast a provisional ballot. An individual presenting a judicial
order to vote shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot.
((1) amended Mar. 27, 2020, P.L.41, No.12)
   (2) Prior to voting the provisional ballot, the elector
shall be required to sign an affidavit stating the following:
    I do solemnly swear or affirm that my name is______________,
that my date of birth is __________,and at the time that I
registered I resided at __________ in the municipality of
_________________ in _____________ County of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and that this is the only ballot that I cast
in this election.
Signature of Voter/Elector
Current Address
Check the Reason for Casting the Provisional Ballot.
Signed by Judge of Elections and minority inspector
   (3) After the provisional ballot has been cast, the
individual shall place it in a secrecy envelope. The individual
shall place the secrecy envelope in the provisional ballot
envelope and shall place his signature on the front of the
provisional ballot envelope. All provisional ballots shall
remain sealed in their provisional ballot envelopes for return
to the county board of elections.
   (4) Within seven calendar days of the election, the county
board of elections shall examine each provisional ballot
envelope that is received to determine if the individual voting
that ballot was entitled to vote at the election district in

the election. 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
determination is being made. Representatives shall be permitted
to keep a list of those persons who cast a provisional ballot
and shall be entitled to challenge any determination of the
county board of elections with respect to the counting or
partial counting of the ballot under this section. Upon
challenge of any provisional ballot under this clause, the
ballot envelope shall be marked "challenged" together with the
reason for the challenge, and the provisional ballot shall be
set aside pending final determination of the challenge according
to the following procedure:
   (i) Provisional ballots marked "challenged" shall be placed
unopened in a secure, safe and sealed container in the custody
of the county board of elections until it shall fix a time and
place for a formal hearing of all such challenges, and notice
shall be given where possible to all provisional electors thus
challenged and to every attorney, watcher or candidate who made
the challenge.
   (ii) The time for the hearing shall not be later than seven
days after the date of the challenge.
   (iii) On the day fixed for the hearing, the county board
shall proceed without delay to hear the challenges and, in
hearing the testimony, the county board shall not be bound by
the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence.
   (iv) The testimony presented shall be stenographically
recorded and made part of the record of the hearing.
   (v) The decision of the county board in upholding or
dismissing any challenge may be reviewed by the court of common
pleas of the county upon a petition filed by any petitioner
aggrieved by the decision of the county board. The appeal shall
be taken, within two days after the decision was made, whether
the decision was reduced to writing or not, to the court of
common pleas setting forth the objections to the county board's
decision and praying for an order reversing the decision.
   (vi) Pending the final determination of all appeals, the
county board shall suspend any action in canvassing and
computing all challenged provisional ballots irrespective of
whether or not an appeal was taken from the county board's
decision.
   (vii) Upon completion of the computation of the returns of
the county, the votes cast upon the challenged official
provisional ballots shall be added to the other votes cast
within the county.
   (5) (i) Except as provided in subclause (ii), if it is
determined that the individual was registered and entitled to
vote at the election district where the ballot was cast, the
county board of elections shall compare the signature on the
provisional ballot envelope with the signature on the elector's
registration form and, if the signatures are determined to be
genuine, shall count the ballot if the county board of elections
confirms that the individual did not cast any other ballot,
including an absentee ballot, in the election.
   (ii) A provisional ballot shall not be counted if:
   (A) either the provisional ballot envelope under clause (3)
or the affidavit under clause (2) is not signed by the
individual;
   (B) the signature required under clause (3) and the
signature required under clause (2) are either not genuine or
are not executed by the same individual;

   (C) a provisional ballot envelope does not contain a secrecy
envelope;
   (D) in the case of a provisional ballot that was cast under
subsection (a.2)(1)(i), within six calendar days following the
election the elector fails to appear before the county board
of elections to execute an affirmation or the county board of
elections does not receive an electronic, facsimile or paper
copy of an affirmation affirming, under penalty of perjury,
that the elector is the same individual who personally appeared
before the district election board on the day of the election
and cast a provisional ballot and that the elector is indigent
and unable to obtain proof of identification without the payment
of a fee;
   (E) in the case of a provisional ballot that was cast under
subsection (a.2)(1)(ii), within six calendar days following the
election, the elector fails to appear before the county board
of elections to present proof of identification and execute an
affirmation or the county board of elections does not receive
an electronic, facsimile or paper copy of the proof of
identification and an affirmation affirming, under penalty of
perjury, that the elector is the same individual who personally
appeared before the district election board on the day of the
election and cast a provisional ballot; or
   (F) the elector's absentee ballot or mail-in ballot is
timely received by a county board of elections.
   ((ii) amended Oct. 31, 2019, P.L.552, No.77)
   (iii) One authorized representative of each candidate in
an election and one representative from each party shall be
permitted to remain in the room in which deliberation or
determination of subclause (ii) is being made.
   ((5) amended Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195, No.18)
   (6) If it is determined that the individual voting the
provisional ballot was not registered, the provisional ballot
shall not be counted and the ballot shall remain in the
provisional ballot envelope and shall be marked "Rejected as
Ineligible."
   (7) The following shall apply:
   (i) Except as provided in subclause (ii), if it is
determined that the individual voting the provisional ballot
was eligible to vote in the county in which the ballot was cast
but not at the election district where the ballot was cast, the
county board of elections shall open the envelope and only count
that portion of the ballot that the individual would have been
eligible to vote in his proper election district and at the
election district where the vote was cast if:
   (A) the county board of elections confirms that the
individual did not cast any other ballot, including an absentee
ballot, in the election; and
   (B) the individual casting the provisional ballot is a
resident of the county in which the provisional ballot was cast.
   (ii) In the event that the individual casting the
provisional ballot is not found to be a resident of the county
in which the provisional ballot was cast, the ballot shall not
be counted.
   (iii) In the event that the board of elections determines,
based on an evidentiary record, that the individual
intentionally and wilfully cast a provisional ballot in an
election district in which the individual was not eligible to
vote, the ballot shall not be counted.
   (8) On election night, immediately upon completion of the
count and tabulation of the votes cast, the judge of election
shall prepare and certify under oath a tally displaying the

number of provisional ballots received from the election board
and the number of provisional ballots cast and transmitted to
the county board of elections. The judge of election shall
record on the tabulation the name of the individual into whose
possession the provisional ballots were passed for transmission
to the county board of elections.
   (9) All provisional ballots and the tally of provisional
ballots tabulated under clause (8) in the possession of an
election board official shall be promptly returned by the judge
of election to the custody of the proper county election board
in accordance with sections 1113-A(j), 1225(b) and 1228(a).
   (10) One authorized representative of each candidate in an
election and one representative from each political party shall
be permitted to remain in the room where provisional ballots
are received by the county board of elections.
   (11) The department shall establish a World Wide Web site
and a toll-free telephone number to permit an individual who
cast a provisional ballot to determine whether the vote of that
individual was counted and, if the vote was not counted, the
reason that it was not counted.
   (12) For purposes of this subsection, "provisional ballot"
means a ballot issued to an individual who claims to be a
registered elector by the judge of elections on election day
when the individual's name does not appear on the general
register and the individual's registration cannot be verified.
   (b) If any elector was unable to sign his name at the time
of registration, or, if having been able to sign his name when
registered, he subsequently shall have lost his sight or lost
the hand with which he was accustomed to sign his name, or shall
have been otherwise rendered by disease or accident unable to
sign his name when he applies to vote, he shall establish his
identity to the satisfaction of the election officers, and in
such case he shall not be required to sign a voter's
certificate, but a certificate shall be prepared for him by one
of the election officers, upon which the facts as to such
disability shall be noted and attested by the signature of such
election officer.
   (c) No person who applies to vote shall be permitted by any
election officer or clerk or other person to see the signature
recorded as his in the district register until after he shall
have signed his name to the voter's certificate.
   (d) No person, except a qualified elector who is in actual
military or naval service under a requisition of the President
of the United States or by the authority of this Commonwealth,
and who votes under the provisions of Article XIII of this act,
shall be entitled or permitted to vote at any primary or
election at any polling place outside the election district in
which he resides, nor shall he be permitted to vote in the
election district in which he resides, unless he has been
personally registered as an elector and his registration card
appears in the district register of such election district,
except by order of the court of common pleas as provided in
this act, and any person, although personally registered as an
elector, may be challenged by any qualified elector, election
officer, overseer, or watcher at any primary or election as to
his identity, as to his continued residence in the election
district or as to any alleged violation of the provisions of
section 1210 of this act, and if challenged as to identity or
residence, he shall produce at least one qualified elector of
the election district as a witness, who shall make affidavit
of his identity or continued residence in the election district:
Provided, however, That no person shall be entitled to vote as

a member of a party at any primary, unless he is registered and
enrolled as a member of such party upon the district register,
which enrollment shall be conclusive as to his party membership
and shall not be subject to challenge on the day of the primary.
   (e) A person who wilfully commits fraud or who conspires
to wilfully commit fraud in relation to any of the provisions
of this section commits a felony of the third degree and, upon
conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding
fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or to undergo a term of
imprisonment of not more than seven years, or both. An
individual convicted under this subsection shall be barred for
life from serving as a judge, inspector or clerk of election,
machine inspector translator, county election board official,
poll watcher or in any other official capacity relating to the
sanctity, observation or conduct of Pennsylvania elections.
   (f) As used in this section, "care facility" means any of
the following:
   (1) A long-term care nursing facility as defined in section
802.1 of the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as
the "Health Care Facilities Act."
   (2) An assisted living residence or a personal care home
as defined in section 1001 of the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31,
No.21), known as the "Public Welfare Code."
   ((f) added Mar. 14, 2012, P.L.195, No.18)
   (1210 amended Oct. 8, 2004, P.L.807, No.97)
  Compiler's Note: The short title of the act of June 13,
      1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code,
      referred to in this section, was amended by the act of
      December 28, 2015 (P.L.500, No.92). The amended short
      title is now the Human Services Code.
  Compiler's Note: Section 13.1 of Act 97 of 2004, which
      amended section 1210, provided that the amendment shall
      apply to all elections occurring on or after December
      31, 2004.
  Compiler's Note: See sections 10 and 11 of Act 18 of 2012
      in the appendix to this act for special provisions
      relating to application of law.