An Act amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code, in district election officers, providing for master list of prospective clerks of election and for . . .clerk of election vacancies and further providing for vacancies in election boards, appointment, judge and majority inspector to be members of majority party and minority inspector to be member of minority party.
HB476 amends Pennsylvania’s Election Code to change how counties recruit and fill clerk of election vacancies at polling places. It requires each county election board to create and maintain, at least annually, a public master list of prospective clerks of election that includes the most recent available address for each prospective clerk and all qualified registered electors and voter registration lists within the county. The list must be open for public inspection.
The bill also replaces the current vacancy-filling process with a random selection system drawn from a cross section of qualified registered electors in the county. It states that every qualified elector must have an opportunity to be considered for service, and it bars exclusion based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or economic status. The bill preserves several exceptions, including for active-duty military personnel, people already selected by random draw in the same election cycle unless they opt in again, those who show undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, people age 75 or older who request to be excused, and breastfeeding women who request to be excused. It also requires counties to publicly maintain polling-place assignment lists and make them available for inspection before service begins.
HB476 would directly amend the Pennsylvania Election Code, specifically provisions governing district election officers, clerk of election vacancies, and related election board vacancies. It shifts counties toward a more formalized, public, and randomized process for identifying and assigning clerks of election, while also expanding the pool of eligible electors who may be called to serve. Counties would need to maintain new records, publish lists, and use random selection when staffing shortages occur, which could affect local election administration procedures and staffing practices at polling places.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the measure appears to be framed as an administrative election-management reform rather than a partisan policy change. Its sponsors are from multiple Democratic members, suggesting support for improving election staffing and transparency. The bill’s structure indicates an intent to broaden participation and standardize vacancy filling, which generally suggests a favorable or reform-oriented posture toward the legislation.
The main points of potential contention are the mandatory nature of random selection from the electorate, the expanded public disclosure of prospective clerk information, and the practical burden on counties to maintain and publish master lists and polling-place assignments. Some may also question the inclusion of all qualified electors in the pool, the limits on exemptions, and whether the public list requirements raise privacy or administrative concerns. The bill’s explicit anti-discrimination language and exceptions for military service, hardship, age, and breastfeeding indicate an effort to balance compulsory service with accommodations, but those same provisions could also be areas of debate.