Section 3049 - Opening of polls; posting cards of instruction and notices of penalties and voters' rights; examination of voting machines(a) In districts in which ballots are used, the election officers shall, after taking the oath, open the ballot boxes which have been furnished to them, and burn and totally destroy all the ballots and other papers which they may find therein, before the opening of the polls. Whenever during any emergency, it becomes necessary to save waste paper on account of a shortage thereof, the Governor of the Commonwealth may, by proclamation, suspend the foregoing provisions relating to the destruction of ballots and papers, and in that case, the election board shall set the ballots and other papers aside and they shall be collected and disposed of by such means and in such manner as may be determined by the county election board. When the polling place is opened, the ballot box shall be securely locked, and shall not be opened until the close of the polls, as provided in section 1221. At the opening of the polls the seals of the packages furnished by the county board shall be publicly broken, and the said packages shall be opened by the judge of election. The cards of instruction and notices of penalties shall be immediately posted in each voting compartment, and not less than three such cards and notices of penalties and voters' rights, and not less than five specimen ballots (at primaries five of each party), shall be immediately posted in or about the voting room outside the enclosed space, and such cards of instruction, notices of penalties and specimen ballots shall be given to any elector at his request, so long as there are any on hand.
(a.1) The notice pertaining to voters' rights shall contain the following in boldface type: An elector shall have the right to cast his or her vote: without the use or threat of force, violence or restraint; without the infliction or threat of infliction of injury; without any intimidation or coercion upon or against his or her person; or without any other action intended to deny any individual's right to vote.
(b)(1) In districts in which voting machines are used, at the opening of the polls, the seals of the package furnished by the county board shall be publicly broken, and the said package shall be opened by the judge of election. Not less than three cards of instruction and notices of penalties, and not less than two diagrams of the face of the machine shall be immediately posted in or about the voting room outside the enclosed space, and such cards and notices of penalties shall be given to any elector at his request, so long as there are any on hand. Thereupon the election officers, before opening the envelope containing the keys which unlock the operating mechanism and registering counters or counter compartment of the voting machine, shall examine the number of the seal on the machine and the number registered on the protective counter or device, and shall see whether they are the same as the numbers written on the envelope containing the keys. If either number shall be found not to agree, the envelope shall remain unopened until the election officers shall have notified the proper custodian of voting machines, or the county board, and until the custodian or some other person authorized by the county board shall have presented himself at the polling place for the purpose of reexamining the machine, and shall have certified that it is properly arranged. But if the numbers on the seal and the protective counter or device shall both be found to agree with the numbers on the envelope, the envelope shall be opened, and where the voting machine provided is not equipped with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, the election officers shall examine the registering counters, and, for that purpose, shall open the doors concealing such counters, if the construction of the voting machine shall so require, and, before the polls are opened, the judge and each inspector shall carefully examine every counter, and shall see that it registers zero (000), and shall allow the overseers and watchers to examine the counters. When the voting machine provided is equipped with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, and requires the simultaneous use of three keys to unlock the registering counters or counter compartment, the judge of election shall deliver one of the two keys, aforesaid, to the minority inspector to be retained by him as hereinafter provided, and shall then print at least two proof sheets, one of which the judge and each inspector shall carefully examine to ascertain whether every counter registers zero (000), and shall then preserve said proof sheets to be signed by them and returned to the county election board, with the duplicate return sheet, and shall sign and post the other proof sheet upon the wall of the polling place, where it shall remain until the polls are closed. The key delivered by the judge of election to the minority inspector as aforesaid, shall be retained by the minority inspector until the polls have been closed, and the voting and counting mechanism of the machine shall have been locked and sealed against voting, and shall then be returned to the judge of election, for return by him to the county election board, as hereinafter provided.(2) If the ballot labels containing the names of offices, parties, political bodies, candidates, and questions, shall not be in their proper places on the voting machine, the election officers, forthwith, shall notify the proper custodian of voting machines, or the county board, and the machine shall not be used until the custodian, or some other person authorized by the county board, shall have supplied ballot labels, as herein prescribed. If the ballot labels for a voting machine shall not be delivered at the time required, or if after delivery, they shall be lost, destroyed, or stolen, the county board or custodian shall cause other ballot labels to be prepared, printed or written, as nearly in the form of the official ballot labels as practicable, and shall cause such ballot labels to be used in the same manner, as nearly as may be, as the official ballot labels would have been used.(3) The judge, each inspector of election, each clerk of election and the overseers, if any, shall sign a certificate showing--(1) the identifying number or other designation of the voting machine; (2) the delivery of the keys in a sealed envelope; (3) the number on the seal upon the machine; (4) the number registered on the protective counter or device; (5) that all of the counters were set at zero (000); and (6) that the ballot labels are properly placed in the machine, which certificate shall be returned by the judge of election to the county board with the other certificates, as hereinafter provided. (4) The machine shall remain locked against voting until the polls are opened, and shall not be operated except by electors in voting. If any counter is found not to register zero (000), the election officer shall immediately notify the custodian, or the county board, who shall, if practicable, adjust or cause the counters to be adjusted at zero (000), but, if it shall be found impracticable for the custodian or other person authorized by the county board to arrive in time so to adjust such counters before the time set for opening the polls, the election officer shall immediately make a written record of the designation or designating letter or number of such counter, together with the number registered thereon, herein below called the initial number, and shall sign and post the same upon the wall of the polling place, where it shall remain until the polls are closed: Provided, however, That if the voting machine used is equipped with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, in any case where any counter is shown by such proof sheet not to register zero (000), if it shall be found impracticable to have such counter adjusted before the time set for opening the polls, the election officer shall sign such printed proof sheet and post the same upon the wall of the polling place where it shall remain until the polls are closed; and, in filling out the returns of the election, if the final number of such counter is greater than the initial number, the election officer shall subtract the initial number from the final number, and enter the difference on the returns as the vote for the candidate or on the question represented by such counter; if the final number of such counter is less than the initial number, the election officers shall add one thousand to the final number and shall subtract the initial number from the sum so ascertained, and shall enter upon the returns as the vote for the candidate or on the question represented by such counter the final number plus one thousand less the initial number. (5) The exterior of the voting machine, and every part of the polling place, shall be in plain view of the election officers, overseers and watchers. The voting machine shall be located in the polling place, at least six feet back of the guard-rail or barrier, in such a position that, unless its construction shall require otherwise, the ballot labels on the face of the machine can be seen plainly by the election officers, overseers and watchers when the machine is not occupied by a voter. (6) The election officers shall not themselves be, nor allow any other person to be, in any position that will permit any one to see or ascertain how an elector votes, or how he has voted. The election officers, or one of them, shall inspect the face of the machine at frequent intervals, to see that the ballot labels are in their proper places, and that the machine has not been injured or tampered with. (7) During a primary or election, the door, or other covering of the compartment containing the counters of the machine shall not be unlocked or opened, or the counters exposed, except by action of the proper custodian of voting machines, for good and sufficient reason, a statement of which shall be made in writing and signed by him and attested by the signatures of the election officers and overseers, or except upon the written order of the county board, for good and sufficient reason, which shall be stated in the order. 1937, June 3, P.L. 1333, art. XII, § 1209. Amended 1945, May 16, P.L. 596, § 1; 2006, May 11, P.L. 178, No. 45, § 9, effective 7/1/2006.