Section 3004 - Installation of voting machines(a)(1) If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the question shall vote in the affirmative, the county election board of the said county shall purchase for each election district of such county, city, borough or township, one or more voting machines, of a kind or kinds approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, as hereinafter provided, and of sufficient capacity to accommodate the names of a reasonable number of candidates for all public and party offices which, under the provisions of existing laws and party rules, are likely to be voted for at any future election, and shall notify the Secretary of the Commonwealth, in writing, that they have done so. The county election board shall provide machines in good working order, and shall preserve and keep them in repair. Voting machines of different kinds may be used for different election districts in the same county, city, borough or township. In each election district in which voting machines are used, the county election board shall provide an adequate number of voting machines for the electors of the election district in accordance with section 530. (2) Whenever there shall be a number of candidates in a primary election so great as to require voting machines limited to the candidates of one political party, there shall be two voting machines of the same kind in any district for any party which has more than three hundred and fifty (350) registered qualified electors in that district.(b) Such voting machines shall be installed, either simultaneously or gradually, in political subdivisions which adopt them. Upon the installation of voting machines in any election district, the use of paper ballots therein shall be discontinued, except as otherwise provided herein.(c) If voting machines are installed gradually, they may be introduced, in the case of counties, in alphabetical order--by cities, boroughs and townships, so that they will first be used in the city, borough or township, the name of which is first in alphabetical order, and then in the city, borough or township, the name of which is next in alphabetical order, and so on. In cities, boroughs and townships, they shall be introduced in numerical or alphabetical order by wards and election districts, if any, so that they will first be used in the first election district of the first ward, and then in the second election district of the first ward, and so on. After they have been installed in all the election districts in the first ward, they may be installed, in the same manner, in the second ward, then in the third ward, and so on. In any event, the machines shall be installed as rapidly as practicable after the electors have voted in favor of them. If voting machines are installed gradually they may also be introduced in the case of counties by legislative districts with priority in installation being given to municipalities therein in the order of their descending population rank according to the last official decennial census. Within such municipality the voting machines shall be introduced in numerical order by wards and election districts, if any, so that they will first be used in the first election district of the first ward and then in the second election district of the first ward and so on. After they have been installed in all the election districts in the first ward, they shall be installed in the same manner in the second ward, then in the third ward, and so on.
(d) If the question hereinbefore provided shall have been submitted to the qualified electors of the county, city, borough or township, and the majority of the electors voting thereon shall have voted favorably thereon, and if the county election board shall not, within one year, have executed their contract or contracts providing for the purchase or procurement of voting machines for use at the next general, municipal or primary election, occurring at least one year and sixty days after the referendum, then the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall forthwith, in writing, notify the said county election board that, after the expiration of thirty days, he, under the authority of this act, on behalf of the said county, will award, make, and execute such contract or contracts, unless the said county election board meanwhile shall have made and executed the same.(e) If, upon the expiration of said thirty days, the county election board still shall not have made and executed the contract or contracts providing for the delivery of machines as aforesaid, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, on behalf of the said county and upon the approval of the Attorney General as to form, shall thereupon award, make, and execute a contract or contracts for the purchase or procurement of a sufficient number of voting machines, approved as required by this act, for each election district within each such county, city, borough or township; and the cost of such voting machines, including the delivery thereof, and of making and entering into the said contract or contracts, including the preparation and printing of specifications and all other necessary expense incidental thereto, shall be the debt of the said county, and, upon the certificate of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, it shall be the duty of the controller, if any, to allow, and of the treasurer of the county to pay, the sum out of any appropriation available therefor, or out of the first unappropriated moneys that come into the treasury of the county.(f) Provided, however, That if the county election board or the Secretary of the Commonwealth, as the case may be, shall find it impracticable to procure a voting machine or voting machines for each election district of the county, city, borough or township, for use at the general, municipal or primary election then next ensuing, they or he shall provide as many machines as it shall be practicable to procure, and, as soon thereafter as practicable, shall provide the remainder of such machines required hereunder. The machines shall be installed in the election district or districts, in the manner provided for the gradual introduction of voting machines in paragraph (c) of this section.(g) Any county, city, borough or township may, by a majority vote of its qualified electors cast at any general election held not earlier than one hundred and three weeks after they have voted to adopt such machines, direct the discontinuance of the use of voting machines at elections held in such county, city, borough or township. The question for the discontinuance of the use of such voting machines shall be submitted to the voters, subject to the same requirements as to resolution or petition and signatures thereon, as is required for the submission of the question on the authorization of the use of such voting machines. Such question for discontinuance must be submitted to the qualified electors of the county or municipality which voted on the question of the adoption of voting machines, and the question of discontinuance shall not be submitted to the qualified electors of any city, borough or township forming a part only of any county which has previously voted to adopt voting machines for the entire county, unless the qualified electors of such city, borough or township have previously, by separate vote of its qualified electors, voted in favor of the adoption of voting machines. Where the qualified electors of any city, borough or township and the qualified electors of the entire county containing therein such city, borough or township, both have voted by separate questions in favor of the adoption of voting machines, a subsequent vote by the qualified electors of the entire county in favor of discontinuance shall not be considered as a vote to discontinue the use of voting machines in such city, borough or township. Such question as to the discontinuance of the use of voting machines shall be submitted in the following form:
"Shall the use of voting machines be continued in the (city, borough or township), of ............?"
(h) If it shall appear at any election that the county board requires additional voting machines for the use of the electors, said county board shall have authority to enter into a contract or contracts for the rental of a sufficient number of machines for said election.1937, June 3, P.L. 1333, art. XI, § 1104. Amended 1965, Dec. 27, P.L. 1226, § 2; 1979, P.L. 189, No. 63, § 5, imd. effective; 1998, Feb. 13, P.L. 72, No. 18, § 13, imd. effective.