EAdIElection Administration Index
How professionally and independently is election administration codified?
Dimensions
Accountability
0.0% · 0/2| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI.1Conflict-of-interest disclosureAre commissioners and senior election staff required by statute to disclose financial interests (vendor relationships, party positions, candidate connections) publicly? | 0/10.0% | No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute. | no FTS match 2026-05-12 |
| COI.2Judicial review of administrative decisionsIs the right to seek judicial review of election-authority decisions codified, with standing, timeline, and venue defined? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1514 codifies conversion of registration records to SURE; not judicial review. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Commission
30.0% · 2/5| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMM.1Statutory grounding of commissionIs the election commission's existence and core mandate set in the constitution (rather than statute alone, regulation, or executive order)? | 0/20.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 3508 (UOCAVA) codifies unvoted-ballot transmission deadlines; not commission grounding. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.2Multi-branch appointmentAre commission members appointed by multiple branches (legislature, judiciary, executive) such that no single branch unilaterally controls composition? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1803-A is repealed/expired. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.3Term protectionAre commissioner terms defined in statute with fixed length, staggered cycles, and statutory grounds for removal? | 0.5/150.0% | § 204 codifies the Voting Standards Development Board: each member serves until expiration of his term; vacancies filled in same manner as original appointment. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| COMM.4Political-balance requirementIs the commission's composition required by statute to be politically balanced (party-balanced, supermajority-confirmation, or independent appointment by judiciary)? | 1/1100.0% | § 1204(a)(3) codifies an explicit party-balance rule for registrars in counties of the first class: 'Not more than one-half of the number of registrars appointed annually for each registration place may be members of the same political party.' Reinforces party-balance pattern with § 405 (one majority + one minority inspector). | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Funding
12.5% · 1/4| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FUND.1Independent funding lineIs the election authority's budget a separate statutory line item (not subject to mid-cycle reallocation by the executive branch alone)? | 0.5/150.0% | § 1122-A codifies voting-apparatus bonds via the PA Economic Development Financing Authority — partial multi-year capital-financing path for voting equipment, not a separate operating-budget line item. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| FUND.2Multi-year funding cycleAre election infrastructure budgets set on a multi-year cycle (avoiding annual political renegotiation of election-administration money)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1703 codifies recount/recanvass procedure; not the funding cycle. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| FUND.3Foreign funding prohibitionIs foreign-source funding of the election authority (and election administration vendors, where applicable) prohibited by statute? | 0/20.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1102 (Definitions) provides definitions; not a foreign-funding ban. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
Staff Training
16.7% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAFF.1Career professional staffIs the election authority's career staff (professional employees, not political appointees) protected by civil-service or analogous merit-based statute? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1301 codifies qualified absentee electors; not civil-service protection for election staff. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| STAFF.2Mandatory trainingIs training for election officials and poll workers required by statute, with content and frequency defined? | 0.5/150.0% | § 412.2(a.1) codifies additional compensation for participation in election training, implying training programs exist; however, no statutory mandate, content, or frequency is codified in the surfaced text. “An election officer shall receive additional compensation, as fixed by the county board of elections, for participating in election training” | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| STAFF.3Whistleblower protectionAre election-related whistleblower protections (for staff reporting irregularities) codified in statute? | 0/10.0% | No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute. | no FTS match 2026-05-12 |
Vendor Oversight
66.7% · 2/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERT.1Certification process codifiedIs the voting-equipment certification process (criteria, evaluators, timeline, public-comment period) codified in statute or regulation? | 1/1100.0% | § 1105-A codifies SoS examination/approval of electronic voting systems with three-examiner board, written reports, public reexamination on petition of 10+ electors, and federal-testing-authority prerequisite. Statutory framework: criteria, evaluators, timeline, fee. “may request the Secretary of the Commonwealth to examine such system” | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| CERT.2Recertification triggersAre recertification triggers (after material updates, after defects discovered, on a fixed schedule) codified? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 1325 codifies government-agency voter-registration distribution duties; unrelated to recertification triggers for voting equipment. | § view source 2026-05-12 |
| CERT.3Decertification grounds & procedureAre the grounds for revoking certification, and the procedure for doing so, defined in statute? | 1/1100.0% | § 207 codifies decertification procedure for voting apparatus: when affecting 50%+ counties, the Department must submit a 180-day pre-effective-date written plan to legislative leaders with grounds, replacement costs, replacement plan, and effective date. “Commonwealth may not disapprove or decertify a voting apparatus in 50% or more counties” | § view source 2026-05-12 |