Legal Hotline: Election Code – Access to Election Returns
Legal Hotline: Election Code – Access to Election Returns
Q: We’d like to inspect the returns after the election. Does the Election Code specifically address public access to returns?
A: The returns are public, and there are provisions in the Election Code that govern access.
The Election Code addresses public access to returns as part of the general rule governing public access to records in possession of county election boards under Section 2648, which states:
“The records of each county board of elections, general and duplicate returns, tally papers, affidavits of voters and others, nomination petitions, certificates and papers, other petitions, appeals, witness lists, accounts, contracts, reports and other documents and records in its custody, except the contents of ballot boxes and voting machines and records of assisted voters, shall be open to public inspection, except as herein provided, and may be inspected and copied by any qualified elector of the county during ordinary business hours, at any time when they are not necessarily being used by the board, or its employees have duties to perform thereto: Provided, however, That such public inspection thereof shall only be in the presence of a member or authorized employee of the county board, and shall be subject to proper regulation for safekeeping of the records and documents, and subject to the further provisions of this act: And provided further, That general and duplicate returns, tally papers, affidavits of voters and others, and all other papers required to be returned by the elections officers to the county board sealed, shall be open to public inspection only after the county board shall, in the course of the computation and canvassing of the returns, have broken such seals and finished for the time, their use of said papers in connection with such and canvassing.”
The Election Code also contains a general provision governing public access to returns, 25 P.S. § 3152(a), which states:
“The general returns from the various districts which have been returned unsealed shall be open to public inspection at the office of the county board as soon as they are received from the judges of election. None of the envelopes sealed by election officers and entrusted to the judge of election for delivery to the county board shall be opened by any person, except by the order of the return board, or of the court of common pleas.”
In counties that use electronic voting systems, public access to returns is also addressed in a specific section of the Pennsylvania Election Code, 25 P.S. § 3031.14(c), which states:
“The return printed by the central automatic tabulating equipment, to which have been added write-in votes as recorded on the district reporting form and absentee votes, shall, when certified by the county board of elections, constitute the official return of each election district. Upon completion of the count, the official returns shall be open to the public.”
The law facilitates public access during the county’s regular business hours, but it also limits access to a “qualified elector of the county” and requires an inspection to take place in the presence of county election board members or authorized employees when the records are not otherwise being used by election workers. Considering these requirements, it is advisable to contact the county election board to make arrangements for inspection and copying in accordance with the law.
As always, this is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, legal advice. Please contact your news organization’s private counsel or the PNA Legal Hotline at (717) 703-3080 with questions.