PRINTER'S NO. 89
No. 10 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY WAGNER, CONTI, LAVALLE, GERLACH, TARTAGLIONE, EARLL, KUKOVICH, COSTA, THOMPSON, WAUGH, GREENLEAF, O'PAKE, MUSTO, BOSCOLA, SCHWARTZ AND LOGAN, JANUARY 23, 2001
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 23, 2001
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 Directing the Joint State Government Commission to create an 2 election task force to promote effective administration and 3 calculation of election results and to evaluate the voting 4 process in this Commonwealth. 5 WHEREAS, National upheaval in Florida has prompted immediate 6 consideration of voting processes throughout the country; and 7 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's 67 counties use a wide range of 8 voting systems from optical scanners to punch cards to 9 electronic and mechanical voting machines; and 10 WHEREAS, Persons 60 years of age and over comprise 20% of the 11 population of this Commonwealth; and 12 WHEREAS, It is in the best interests of the Commonwealth to 13 provide an easy and effective form of voting for all 14 Pennsylvanians, especially citizens with physical disabilities 15 or impairments; and 16 WHEREAS, The people of this Commonwealth need to know that 17 every vote counts and will be counted; therefore be it 18 RESOLVED (the House of Representatives concurring), That the
1 General Assembly direct the Joint State Government Commission to 2 create an election task force to evaluate the way Pennsylvanians 3 vote, consisting of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and one 4 member appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate, one 5 member appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, one 6 member appointed by the Majority Leader of the House of 7 Representatives and one member appointed by the Minority Leader 8 of the House of Representatives; and be it further 9 RESOLVED, That the election task force create an advisory 10 committee composed of representatives from, and designated by, 11 each of the following: six representatives who are county 12 election officials designated by the County Commissioners 13 Association of Pennsylvania, one representative designated by 14 Common Cause, one representative designated by the League of 15 Women Voters, one representative designated by the Republican 16 State Committee and one representative designated by the 17 Democratic State Committee; and be it further 18 RESOLVED, That the election task force suggest changes to 19 promote efficient and accurate calculation of election results, 20 placing a priority on voting systems that are easy to 21 understand, minimize the opportunity for human or mechanical 22 error and produce accurate and reliable results; and be it 23 further 24 RESOLVED, That the election task force provide counties with 25 direction to adopt accurate and user-friendly voting systems; 26 and be it further 27 RESOLVED, That the election task force report its findings 28 and recommendations directly to the General Assembly no later 29 that six months after adoption of this resolution. L19L82MSP/20010S0010R0089 - 2 -