PRINTER'S NO. 1366
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.1218
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY GROVE, CUTLER, STENDER, KAUFFMAN, ROWE AND KUZMA,
APRIL 15, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 15, 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 the Secretary of the Commonwealth, further
providing for powers and duties of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth; in county boards of elections, further
providing for powers and duties of county boards; in voting
by qualified absentee electors, further providing for
canvassing of official absentee ballots and mail-in ballots;
and, in recounts and contests, providing for independent
prosecutor and for election integrity officers.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 201, 302 and 1308 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 201. Powers and Duties of the Secretary of the
Commonwealth.--The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall exercise
in the manner provided by this act all powers granted to him by
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26 this act, and shall perform all the duties imposed upon him by
this act, which shall include the following:
* * *
(i) To maintain a hotline for the reporting of any known or
suspected election fraud or intimidation or duress of poll
workers, judges of elections, election officials or election
observers and to provide election fraud education to the public.
All information received through the hotline shall be
automatically transmitted to the independent prosecutor under
section 1778 and the county election integrity officer under
section 1779.
(j) To cooperate with an independent prosecutor under
section 1778 for each election cycle to review election
complaints received by the secretary and the county boards of
elections.
(k) To provide annual training to district attorneys and
their employees on Federal and State election laws and
procedures.
Section 302. Powers and Duties of County Boards.--The county
boards of elections, within their respective counties, shall
exercise, in the manner provided by this act, all powers granted
to them by this act, and shall perform all the duties imposed
upon them by this act, which shall include the following:
* * *
(n.1) To cooperate with the election integrity officer under
section 1779 in their county and to include the election
integrity officer in their county in all correspondence related
to the conduct of the election.
(n.2) To cooperate with an independent prosecutor under
section 1778 for each election cycle to review election
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30 complaints received by the county boards of elections.
* * *
Section 1308. Canvassing of Official Absentee Ballots and
Mail-in Ballots.--* * *
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
following apply to authorized representatives regarding the
oversight of election results:
(1) The authorized representatives shall be provided with
meaningful access to view and observe the entire process of pre-
canvassing or canvassing activities, including allowing the
authorized representatives to easily read the text on any ballot
or envelope at any point in the process of pre-canvassing or
canvassing activities.
(2) A county board of elections shall designate an official
to respond to issues reported by authorized representatives.
(3) The Department of State shall establish a procedure for
authorized representatives to report any concerns arising from
any pre-canvass meeting.
(4) The Department of State and county board of elections
shall investigate and report on any concerns raised in each
election.
(5) All information regarding the oversight of elections
under this subsection shall be turned over to the independent
prosecutor under section 1778.
(6) A county board of elections shall record the pre-canvass
and canvass meetings with audio and visual recording. The entire
recording under this paragraph shall be made available only
after the close of the polls.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
Section 1778. Independent Prosecutor.--(a) At least ninety
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30 days prior to each primary election, the Attorney General shall
appoint an independent prosecutor, which appointment shall be
subject to the approval of a majority of the members elected to
the Senate. T he Attorney General shall appoint and fix the
compensation of the independent prosecutor.
( b) The independent prosecutor shall have experience
prosecuting election law violations.
(c) The independent prosecutor shall:
(1) Review election complaints received by the Department of
State and the county boards of elections for elections occurring
during the calendar year in which the independent prosecutor is
appointed and until the next independent prosecutor is
appointed.
(2) Coordinate election oversight efforts with each level of
law enforcement.
(d) The independent prosecutor shall publish a report
following each election during the term of service of the
independent prosecutor. The following apply:
(1) Each report shall include the following for elections
occurring during the term of service of the independent
prosecutor:
(i) The total number of complaints filed and the entities to
which the complaints were filed.
(ii) A summary of how each complaint was investigated by the
independent prosecutor.
(iii) Recommendations to the General Assembly, the
Department of State and county boards of elections for reducing
future complaints.
(2) Each report shall be a public record under the act of
February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Right-to-Know
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30 Law."
Section 1779. Election Integrity Officers.-- The district
attorney of a county or a designee of the district attorney
shall serve as the county's election integrity officer. The
election integrity officer shall work with its respective county
board of elections, director of elections and judge of elections
to develop chain of custody procedures and internal control
procedures to:
(1) Ensure the integrity of elections.
(2) Prevent fraud and illegal voting.
(3) Recommend data analytic tools to prevent fraud and
illegal voting.
(4) Ensure that proper evidence can be developed to
prosecute violations of Federal and State election laws.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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