Pennsylvania HB 154: An Act amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, in voting machines, further providing for examination and approval of voting machines by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, for requirements of voting machines and for preparation of voting machines by county election boards.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 114
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 154
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY M. MACKENZIE, KAUFFMAN AND WARNER,
JANUARY 16, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 16, 2025
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 machines, further providing for
examination and approval of voting machines by the Secretary
of the Commonwealth, for requirements of voting machines and
for preparation of voting machines by county election boards.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1106, 1107 and 1111 of the act of June
3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election
Code, are amended by adding subsections to read:
Section 1106. Examination and Approval of Voting Machines by
the Secretary of the Commonwealth.--
* * *
(g) Examination shall include testing of all software
required for the voting machine's operation, the ballot reader,
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the digital printer, the fail-safe operations, the counting
center environmental requirements and the equipment reliability
estimate.
(h) For the purposes of examining the voting machine, the
Secretary of the Commonwealth shall employ or contract for the
services of at least one individual who is an expert in one or
more fields of data processing, mechanical engineering and
public administration and shall require from the individual a
written report of the individual's examination.
(i) Within thirty days after completing the examination and
upon approval of any electronic or electromechanical voting
machine, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall make and
maintain a report on the machine, together with a written or
printed description and drawings and photographs clearly
identifying the machine and the operation of the machine. As
soon as practicable after the filing, the Department of State
shall send a notice of certification and upon request a copy of
the report to county boards of elections in this Commonwealth.
The report under this subsection shall be a public record under
the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Right-
to-Know Law."
(j) After a voting machine has been approved by the
Secretary of the Commonwealth, any change or improvement in the
machine must be approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth
prior to the adoption of the change or improvement by a county.
If the change or improvement does not comply with the
requirements of this act, the Secretary of the Commonwealth
shall suspend sales of the equipment or machine in this
Commonwealth until the equipment or machine complies with the
requirements of this act.
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(k) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall examine and
approve all electronic or electromechanical devices used in the
casting, processing or tabulation of ballots or in the recording
of electors, including ballot sorters, envelope extractors,
ballot scanners and electronic pollbooks.
(l) The examination and approval under subsection (k) shall
ensure that the device conforms with standards to provide
timeliness and accuracy in the casting and counting of ballots
or in the recording of electors.
Section 1107. Requirements of Voting Machines.--No voting
machine shall, upon any examination or reexamination, be
approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, or by any
examiner appointed by him, unless it shall, at the time, satisfy
the following requirements:
* * *
(u) It shall immediately reject a ballot where the number of
votes for an office or question exceeds the number which the
elector is entitled to cast or where the tabulating equipment
reads the ballot as a ballot with no votes cast.
(v) It shall be capable of providing records from which the
operation of the voting machine may be audited.
(w) It shall be capable of recording votes from ballots of
different political parties from the same precinct, for a
primary election.
(x) It shall be manufactured in the United States and sold
by a vendor with a primary place of business within the United
States.
(y) It shall utilize open-source software code.
(z) It shall fully comply with the Voluntary Voting System
Guidelines 2.0 adopted by the United States Election Assistance
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