From the Hotline

By Teri Henning, General Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: What is the law in Pennsylvania regarding access to polling places?

A: The Pennsylvania Elections Code provides, among other things, as follows:

25 P.S. 3060(a) Until the polls are closed, no person shall be allowed in the polling place outside of the enclosed space at any primary or election, except the watchers; voters not exceeding ten at any one time who are awaiting their turn to vote; and peace officers, when necessary for the preservation of the peace.....

(d) All persons, except election officers, clerks, machine inspectors, overseers, watchers, persons in the course of voting, persons lawfully giving assistance to voters, and peace and police officers, when permitted by the provisions of this act, must remain at least ten (10) feet distant from the polling place during the progress of the vote.

The Associated Press and five television networks have recently filed lawsuits in Ohio, Florida, and Nevada challenging state laws that prohibited questioning people about their votes within 100 feet of a polling place. In September, a federal judge ruled that the Florida rule violated the rights of the press under the First Amendment.

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