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Residence of electors - 25 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 1302

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     § 1302.  Residence of electors.
        (a)  General rule.--
            (1)  For the purpose of registration and voting, no
        individual shall be deemed to have gained a residence by
        reason of presence or lost a residence by reason of absence
        in any of the following circumstances:
                (i)  Being employed in the service, either civil or
            military, of this Commonwealth or of the United States.
                (ii)  Being engaged in the navigation of the waters
            of this Commonwealth or of the United States or on the
            high seas.
                (iii)  Being in an institution at public expense.
            This subparagraph does not apply to a veteran who resides
            in a home for disabled and indigent soldiers and sailors
            maintained by the Commonwealth. Such a veteran may elect
            to utilize that residence for registration and voting or
            elect to vote as an absentee elector by the use of an
            absentee ballot.
            (2)  Nothing in paragraph (1) shall preclude any elector
        eligible under section 1301 (relating to qualifications to
        register) from establishing the district of residence as the
        election district of residence pursuant to subsection (b).
            (3)  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no
        individual who is confined in a penal institution shall be
        deemed a resident of the election district where the
        institution is located. The individual shall be deemed to
        reside where the individual was last registered before being
        confined in the penal institution, or, if there was no
        registration prior to confinement, the individual shall be
        deemed to reside at the last known address before
        confinement.
            (4)  An individual who resides at an institution for the
        mentally ill or the mentally retarded, if otherwise qualified
        under section 1301, shall be deemed at the individual's
        option a resident in one of the following:
                (i)  The district where the institution is located.
                (ii)  The district where the individual was last
            registered to vote before entering the institution. For
            purposes of this subparagraph, if the individual was not
            registered before entering the institution, the
            individual shall be deemed to reside at the last known
            address before entering the institution.
        (b)  Rules for determination.--The following apply:
            (1)  That the place shall be considered the residence of
        an individual in which habitation is fixed and to which,
        whenever the individual is absent, the individual has the
        intention of returning.
            (2)  An individual shall not be considered to have lost
        residence if the individual leaves home and goes into another
        state or another election district for temporary purposes
        only, with the intention of returning.
            (3)  An individual shall not be considered to have gained
        a residence in an election district if the individual comes
        into that district for temporary purposes only, without the
        intention of making that election district a permanent place
        of abode.
            (4)  If an individual removes to another state with the
        intention of making that state the permanent residence, the
        individual shall be considered to have lost residence in this
        Commonwealth.
            (5)  If an individual removes to another state with the
        intention of remaining there an indefinite time and making
        that state the place of residence, the individual shall be
        considered to have lost residence in this Commonwealth,
        notwithstanding an intention to return at some indefinite
        future period.
            (6)  If an individual goes into another state and, while
        there, votes in an election held by that state, the
        individual shall be considered to have lost residence in this
        Commonwealth.
            (7)  An individual employed in the service of the Federal
        Government or of the Commonwealth and required thereby to be
        absent from the municipality where the individual resided
        when entering that employment and the spouse of the
        individual may remain registered in the district where the
        individual resided immediately prior to entering that
        employment, and the individual and the spouse shall be
        enrolled in the political party designated by the individual
        or spouse without declaring a residence by street and number.
                (i)  An individual who registers under this paragraph
            for Commonwealth employment must produce a certificate
            from the head of the State agency, under the seal of
            office, setting forth that the individual or the
            individual's spouse is actually employed in the service
            of the Commonwealth and setting forth the nature of the
            employment and the time when the employee first entered
            the employment. The commission shall retain certificates
            under this subparagraph.
                (ii)  The commission shall note on the registration
            record of each individual registered under this paragraph
            the fact of Federal or State employment.
                (iii)  At least once every two years the commission
            shall verify the employment of the individuals registered
            under this paragraph at the proper Federal or State
            office. If an individual is found to be no longer a
            Federal or State employee, the individual's registration
            shall be canceled under Chapter 15 (relating to changes
            in records).

Last modified: November 27, 2007