HB 155 — An Act amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, in electronic voting systems, providing for defects, disclosure, investigations and penalties.

PRINTER'S NO.   115

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 155
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY M. MACKENZIE, KAUFFMAN, WARNER AND KUZMA,
        JANUARY 16, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 16, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
 2      "An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
 3      special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
 4      primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
 5      and defining membership of county boards of elections;
 6      imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
 7      courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
 8      imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
 9      revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10      repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11      elections," in electronic voting systems, providing for
12      defects, disclosure, investigations and penalties.
13      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14   hereby enacts as follows:
15      Section 1.     The act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known
16   as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is amended by adding a
17   section to read:
18      Section 1121.1-A.     Defects, Disclosure, Investigations and
19   Penalties.--(a)    No later than January 1 of every odd-numbered
20   year, each vendor shall file a written disclosure with the
21   department identifying any known defect in an electronic voting
22   system or the fact that there is no known defect, the effect of
23   any defect on the operation and use of the approved electronic
 1   voting system and any known corrective measures to cure a
 2   defect, including advisories and bulletins issued to electronic
 3   voting system users.
 4      (b)   Implementation of corrective measures approved by the
 5   department which enable an electronic voting system to conform
 6   to the standards and ensure the timeliness and accuracy of the
 7   casting and counting of ballots constitutes a cure of a defect.
 8      (c)   If a vendor becomes aware of the existence of a defect,
 9   the vendor shall file a new disclosure with the department as
10   provided under subsection (a) within thirty days of the date the
11   vendor determined or reasonably should have determined that the
12   defect existed.
13      (d)   If a vendor discloses to the department that a defect
14   exists, the department may suspend all sales or leases of the
15   electronic voting system in this Commonwealth and may suspend
16   the use of the electronic voting system in any election in this
17   Commonwealth. The department shall provide written notice of a
18   suspension under this subsection to the affected vendor and
19   county boards of elections. If the department determines that
20   the defect no longer exists, the department shall lift the
21   suspension and provide written notice to each affected vendor
22   and supervisor of elections.
23      (e)   If a vendor fails to file a required disclosure for an
24   electronic voting system previously approved by the department,
25   that electronic voting system may not be sold, leased or used
26   for elections in this Commonwealth until the electronic voting
27   system has been submitted for examination and approval under
28   this act. The department shall provide written notice to each
29   county board of elections that the electronic voting system is
30   no longer approved.

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 1      (f)    If the department has reasonable cause to believe an
 2   electronic voting system approved under this act contains a
 3   defect either before, during or after an election which has not
 4   been disclosed under this section, the department shall
 5   investigate whether the electronic voting system has a defect.
 6      (g)    The department shall initiate an investigation on its
 7   own initiative or upon the written request of the board of
 8   elections of a county that purchased an electronic voting system
 9   that contains the alleged defect.
10      (h)    Upon initiation of an investigation, the department
11   shall provide written notice to the vendor and each county board
12   of elections.
13      (i)    If the department determines by a preponderance of the
14   evidence that a defect exists in the electronic voting system,
15   or that the vendor failed to timely disclose a defect under this
16   section, the department shall provide written notice to the
17   affected vendor and county board of elections.
18      (j)    A vendor who receives notice of a defect shall, within
19   ten days of receipt of the notice under subsection (i), file a
20   written response to the department which:
21      (1)    denies that the alleged defect exists or existed as
22   alleged by the department or that the vendor failed to timely
23   disclose a defect and provide the reasons for the denial; or
24      (2)    admits that the defect exists or existed as alleged by
25   the department or that the vendor failed to timely disclose a
26   defect.
27      (k)    If the defect has been cured, the vendor shall provide
28   an explanation of how the defect was cured.
29      (l)    If the defect has not been cured, the vendor shall
30   inform the department whether the defect can be cured and shall

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 1   provide the department with a plan for curing the defect.
 2      (m)   If the defect can be cured, the department shall
 3   establish a time frame within which to cure the defect.
 4      (n)   If, after receiving a response from the vendor, the
 5   department determines that a defect does not exist or has been
 6   cured within the time frame established by the department, the
 7   department shall take no further action.
 8      (o)   If the department determines that a vendor failed to
 9   timely disclose a defect or that a defect exists and a vendor
10   has not filed a written response or has failed to cure within
11   the time frame established by the department, or if the defect
12   cannot be cured, the department shall impose a civil penalty of
13   twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the defect plus an
14   amount equal to the actual costs incurred by the department in
15   conducting the investigation.
16      (p)   (1)   If the department finds that a defect existed, the
17   department may suspend all sales and leases of the electronic
18   voting system and may suspend its use in any county in this
19   Commonwealth. The department shall provide written notice of the
20   suspension to each affected vendor and county board of
21   elections.
22      (2)   If the department determines that a defect no longer
23   exists in an electronic voting system that has been suspended
24   from use under this section, the department shall lift the
25   suspension and authorize the sale, lease and use of the
26   electronic voting system in any election in this Commonwealth.
27   The department shall provide written notice that the suspension
28   has been lifted to each affected vendor and county board of
29   elections.
30      (3)   If the department finds that a defect existed and the

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 1   defect cannot be cured, the department may disapprove the
 2   electronic voting system for use in elections in this
 3   Commonwealth. The department shall provide written notice to all
 4   county boards of elections that the electronic voting system is
 5   no longer approved. After approval of an electronic voting
 6   system has been withdrawn under this paragraph, the electronic
 7   voting system may not be sold, leased or used in this
 8   Commonwealth until it has been resubmitted for examination and
 9   approval and adopted for use under this act.
10      (4)   A vendor for whom a civil penalty was imposed under this
11   section may not submit an electronic voting system for approval
12   by the department or enter into a contract for sale or lease of
13   an electronic voting system in this Commonwealth until each
14   civil penalty has been paid and the department provides written
15   confirmation of the payment to the county board of elections.
16      (q)   The department shall prepare a written report of any
17   investigation conducted under this section and submit the report
18   to the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the
19   House of Representatives, the Majority Leader and Minority
20   Leader of the Senate, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of
21   the House of Representatives, the chair and minority chair of
22   the State Government Committee of the Senate and the chair and
23   minority chair of the State Government Committee of the House of
24   Representatives.
25      (r)   The authority of the department under this section shall
26   be in addition to, and not exclusive of, any other authority
27   provided by law.
28      (s)   For the purposes of this section:
29      "Defect" means a failure, fault or flaw in an electronic or
30   electro-mechanical electronic voting system approved under this

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 1   act, which results in nonconformance with the standards in a
 2   manner that affects the timeliness or accuracy of the casting or
 3   counting of ballots or a failure or inability of the electronic
 4   voting system manufacturer or vendor to make available and
 5   provide approved replacements of hardware or software to the
 6   counties that have purchased the approved electronic voting
 7   system, the unavailability of which results in the electronic
 8   voting system's nonconformance with the standards in a manner
 9   that affects the timeliness or accuracy of the casting or
10   counting of ballots.
11      "Department" means the Department of State of the
12   Commonwealth.
13      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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