PRINTER'S NO. 726
No. 658 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, KUKOVICH, VEON, LEVDANSKY, FREEMAN,
ROBINSON, RYBAK, CARN, DeWEESE, LINTON, WAMBACH, TRELLO,
MARKOSEK, BILLOW, PHILLIPS, ACOSTA, KOSINSKI, MICOZZIE,
DALEY, JAROLIN, COLAFELLA, STUBAN, BELARDI, STABACK, BLAUM,
JOSEPHS, DeLUCA, MELIO, PISTELLA, LASHINGER, BISHOP,
BELFANTI, BATTISTO, GIGLIOTTI, RITTER, SERAFINI, DIETTERICK,
LAUGHLIN, HARPER AND ITKIN, MARCH 6, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 6, 1989
AN ACT
1 Providing for voter registration assistance by certain State
2 agencies and other organizations; and providing for further
3 duties of the Department of State.
4 The General Assembly finds as follows:
5 (1) An individual's right to vote is a fundamental right
6 which serves as part of the basic foundation of our
7 democracy.
8 (2) A substantial percentage of the voting-age
9 population is not registered to vote.
10 (3) Government has a duty to assist in every possible
11 way to make voter registration easily available to its
12 citizens.
13 (4) The State is in a favorable position to assist its
14 citizens in registering to vote because it conducts a number
15 and variety of programs where employees of the State come
16 into contact with unregistered citizens eligible to vote.
1 (5) The General Assembly by this act establishes a
2 permanent, nonpartisan voter registration assistance program.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Voter
7 Registration Assistance Act.
8 Section 2. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "State agency" or "agency." All agencies and
13 instrumentalities of the Commonwealth which have regular contact
14 with the general public. The term includes nonprofit
15 organizations associated with the Commonwealth in the furnishing
16 of social services.
17 Section 3. Voter registration assistance.
18 (a) General rule.--Each State agency shall provide voter
19 registration assistance for those members of the general public
20 which it serves.
21 (b) Procedure.--During the hours and places in which it is
22 open to the public, employees of State agencies shall, as a part
23 of their regular duties, assist persons in registering to vote
24 by:
25 (1) Routinely asking persons using the agency if they
26 want to register to vote.
27 (2) Providing those persons who want to register with
28 registration forms and information.
29 (3) Upon request, assisting persons in completing
30 registration forms.
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1 (4) Collecting completed forms, which the agency shall
2 forward to the appropriate county elections office.
3 Section 4. Training.
4 Employees of State agencies shall receive adequate training
5 to insure the proper completion of forms. This training shall
6 include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
7 (1) Proper completion of forms.
8 (2) Basic registration information, including
9 registration deadlines and when registration or
10 reregistration is required.
11 Section 5. Forms.
12 All routine intake application and registration forms used by
13 agencies shall include the following two questions:
14 (1) Are you registered to vote where you now live?
15 (2) Would you like to register to vote?
16 Section 6. Neutrality.
17 Each agency and its employees shall maintain strict
18 neutrality with respect to a person's political party
19 enrollment. Agency employees shall make it clear, whenever
20 necessary, that the receipt of agency services does not depend
21 in any way on whether a person is registered to vote or whether
22 the person answers the questions described in section 5.
23 Section 7. Voter registration coordinator.
24 Each agency shall have a voter registration coordinator who
25 shall supervise the implementation of this act. The
26 responsibilities of the coordinator shall include, but not be
27 limited to, the following:
28 (1) Planning and coordinating employee training sessions
29 and distributing registration materials to appropriate agency
30 offices.
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1 (2) Overseeing the amendment of the forms referred to in
2 section 5.
3 (3) Developing and coordinating a system to collect
4 completed registration forms and to count the number of forms
5 completed and submitted to the county election offices.
6 (4) Completing and submitting a monthly report to the
7 Secretary of State on the progress of the program and on the
8 number of completed registration forms collected.
9 Section 8. Department of State.
10 The Department of State shall, in the manner provided by law,
11 promulgate the regulations necessary to carry out this act. The
12 department shall also furnish assistance to State agencies
13 concerning the implementation of this act.
14 Section 9. Effective date.
15 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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