From the Legal Hotline

By Teri Henning, General Counsel; Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: What are the rules on access to polling places?

A: The Pennsylvania Elections Code, 25 P.S. 3060, provides, among other things, as follows:
(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.
Some media representatives in Pennsylvania have acted as “watchers” which enables access to polling places in accordance with the statute. Others are granted access, without problem, for the purpose of newsgathering.

Several other states have tried to enforce distance limitations on access to polling places. Most recently, a federal judge in Minnesota issued an injunction blocking a state law that would have prohibited news organizations from conducting exit polls within 100 feet of a polling place. There are no reported Pennsylvania appellate court cases that address the issue of media access to polling places.

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