Pennsylvania Statutes § 3031.12 Election day procedures and the process of voting

(1) At primary elections, the election officer in charge shall adjust the voting system before the voter records any vote so that the voter will only be able to register a vote for candidates on the ballot of the party in which he is registered and enrolled or for persons whose names are not on the official ballot, for candidates for nonpartisan nominations, if any, and for any questions upon which he is entitled to vote.

(2) At [primary] all elections, the voter shall be able to vote for each candidate individually by the means provided. [At all other elections, he may vote for each candidate individually, or he may vote a straight political party ticket in one operation by operating the straight political party mechanism of the political party or political body of his choice. He may also, after having operated the straight party mechanism and before recording his vote, cancel the vote for any candidate of such political party or political body and may thereupon vote for a candidate of another party, or political body for the same office.] The voter may also vote individually for or against a question submitted to the vote of the electors.

(3) A voter may, at any primary or other election, vote for any person or persons for any office for which his name does not appear upon the ballot label as a candidate, by writing the identification of the office and the name of such person in or upon the appropriate receptacle or device provided for that purpose. No write-in vote shall be cast on a voting device for any person for any office, whose name appears on the ballot label as a candidate for that office, and any ballot so cast shall be void and not counted.

(4) At any general election at which presidential electors are to be chosen, each elector shall be permitted to vote by one operation for all the presidential electors of a political party or political body. For each party or body nominating presidential electors, a ballot label shall be provided containing only the words "presidential electors," preceded by the names of the party or body and followed by the names of the candidates thereof for the office of president and vice-president, and the corresponding counter or registering device shall register votes cast for said electors when thus voted for collectively. If any elector desires to vote a ticket for presidential electors made up of the names of persons nominated by different parties or bodies, or partially of names of persons so in nomination and partially of names of persons not in nomination by any party or body, he may write or deposit a paper ballot prepared by himself in the receptacle provided in or on the voting device for that purpose, or he may list their names on the write-in ballot or envelope provided for that purpose. The voting device shall be so constructed that it will not be possible for any one voter to vote a straight party ticket for presidential electors and at the same time to deposit a ballot for presidential electors in a receptacle as [hereinabove] provided in this section . When the votes for presidential electors are counted, the votes appearing upon the counter or registering device corresponding to the ballot label containing the names of the candidates for president and vice-president of any party or body shall be counted as votes for each of the candidates for presidential elector of such party or body, and thereupon all candidates for presidential elector shall be credited, in addition, with the votes cast for them upon the ballots deposited in the machine, as [hereinabove] provided in this section .

(5) As soon as the elector has adjusted the voting device so that it will record his choices for the various candidates to be voted for, and his answers to the various questions submitted, he shall operate the recording mechanism of the voting device and forthwith leave the voting booth.

(1) The voter, after receiving his ballot from the district election officials, shall retire to one of the voting booths in which the voting devices are located.

(2) At primary elections, the voter shall vote for the candidates of his choice for nomination, according to the number of persons to be voted for by him, for each office by making a cross [NO] or check [YES] mark or by making a punch or mark sense mark in the square opposite the name of the candidate or by otherwise indicating a selection associated with the candidate , or he may so [mark the write-in position provided on the ballot for the particular office] indicate on the ballot that the voter is electing to write in the name of a person for the particular office, and [, in the space provided therefor on the ballot and/or ballot envelope, write] insert the identification of the office in question and the name of any person not already [printed on the ballot for that office] listed as a candidate for that office , and such [mark] indication and [written] insertion shall count as a vote for that person for such office.

(3) At all other elections, the voter shall vote for the candidates of his choice for each office to be filled, according to the number of persons to be voted for by him for each office, by making a cross [NO] or check [YES] mark or by making a punch or mark sense mark in the square opposite the name of the candidate, or by otherwise indicating a selection associated with the candidate, or he may so [mark the write-in position provided on the ballot for the particular office] indicate on the ballot that the voter is electing to write in the name of a person for the particular office, and [, in the space provided therefor on the ballot and/or ballot envelope, write] insert the identification of the office in question and the name of any person not already [printed on the ballot for that office] listed as a candidate for that office , and such [mark] indication and [written] insertion shall count as a vote for that person for such office.

(4) If he desires to vote for the entire group of presidential electors nominated by any party or political body, he may make a cross [NO] or check [YES] or punch or mark sense mark [in the appropriate space opposite] or otherwise indicate a selection associated with the names of the candidates for president and vice-president of such party or body. If he desires to vote a ticket for presidential electors made up of the names of persons nominated by different parties or political bodies, or partially of names of persons so in nomination and partially of names of persons not in nomination by any party or political body, or wholly of names of persons not in nomination by any party or political body, he shall insert, [by writing or stamping,] the names of the candidates for presidential electors for whom he desires to vote [in the blank spaces provided therefor] on the write-in ballot under the title of the office "presidential electors". In case of a question submitted to the vote of the electors, he may make a cross [NO] or check [YES] or punch or mark sense mark [in the appropriate square opposite] or otherwise indicate a selection associated with the answer which he desires to give.

(5) Any voter who spoils his ballot may return it and secure another. The word "spoiled" shall be written across the face of the ballot, and it shall be placed in the envelope marked "Spoiled Ballots".

(6) Following the completion of his vote, the voter shall leave the voting booth and return the ballot to the election officer by a means designed to insure its secrecy [; upon removal of the stub of the ballot by the election officer,] as prescribed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth; the voter shall insert the ballot into the district automatic tabulating equipment or, in the event district tabulation is not provided for by the voting system or such district tabulation equipment is inoperative for any reason, into a secure ballot box. [no ballot card from which the stub has been detached shall be accepted by the election officer in charge of such equipment or ballot box, but it shall be marked "spoiled" and shall be placed in the envelope marked "spoiled ballots."]