WE, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance, do ordain and establish this Constitution. 

ARTICLE I
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

That the general, great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and unalterably established, WE DECLARE THAT -

Equality and rights of men. 
Section 1. All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.

Political powers inherent in the people. Their right to reform government.
Section 2. All power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, safety and happiness. For the advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think proper.

Natural right of conscience and freedom of worship.
Section 3. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship.

Religious opinions not to disqualify for holding office.
Section 4. No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.

Freedom of elections.
Section 5. Elections shall be free and equal; and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.

Trial by jury.
Section 6. Trial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof remain inviolate. 

Freedom of the press. 
Section 7. The printing press shall be free to every person who may undertake to examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of government, and no law shall ever by made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. No conviction shall be had in any prosecution for the publication of papers relating to the official conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or to any other matter proper for public investigation or information, where the fact that such publication was not maliciously or negligently made shall be established to the satisfaction of the jury; and in all indictments for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court, as in other cases.

Searches and seizures limited.
Section 8. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall issue without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation subscribed to by the affiant.

Rights of defence and privileges in criminal prosecutions.
Section 9. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witnesses face to face, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and in prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; he cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor can he be deprived of his life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land. 

Criminal information. Twice in jeopardy. Appropriation of private property to public use.
Section 10. No person shall, for any indictable offence, be proceeded against criminally by information, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger, or by leave of the court for oppression or misdemeanor in office. No person shall, for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall private property be taken or applied to public use, without authority of law and without just compensation being first made or secured. 

Administration of justice to be free. Suits against the Commonwealth.
Section 11. All courts shall be open; and every man for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay. Suits may be brought against the Commonwealth in such manner, in such courts and in such cases, as the Legislature may by law direct.

Limitation upon suspension of laws.
Section 12. No power of suspending laws shall be exercised unless by the Legislature or by its authority.

Excessive bail or fines and cruel punishment forbidden.
Section 13. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted.

Prisoners bailable;Habeas Corpus.
Section 14. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offenses when the proof is evident or presumption great: and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

No commission of oyer and terminer to issue.
Section 15. No commission of oyer and terminer or jail delivery shall be issued.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Imprisonment of insolvent debtors limited.
Section 16. The person of a debtor, where there is not strong presumption of fraud, shall not be continued in prison after delivering up his estate for the benefit of his creditors in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

Laws ex post facto or implied contracts, irrevocable grants, &c., forbidden.
Section 17. Noex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or making irrevocable any grant of special privileges or immunities, shall be passed.

No legislative attainder of treason or felony.
Section 18. No person shall be attained of treason or felony by the Legislature.

Attainder shall not work corruption of blood or forfeiture beyond life. No forfeiture for suicide or in case of death by casualty.
Section 19. No attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, except during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Commonwealth. The estate of such persons as shall destroy their own lives shall descend or vest as in cases of natural death, and if any person shall be killed by casualty there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Right of meeting and petition.
Section 20. The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble together for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance.

Right to bear arms.
Section 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.

Subordination of the military to the civil power.
Section 22. No standing army shall, in time of peace, be kept up without the consent of the Legislature, and the military shall in all cases and at all times be in strict subordination to the civil power.

Quartering of troops in houses.
Section 23. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

No title of nobility to be created, etc. or office tenure beyond good behavior.
Section 24. The Legislature shall not grant any title of nobility of hereditary distinction, nor create any office the appointment to which shall be for a longer term than during good behavior.

Emigration permitted.
Section 25. Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Everything in this Article excepted from the powers of government.
Section 26. To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

ARTICLE II
THE LEGISLATURE

The Legislative power vested.
Section 1. The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. 

Biennial elections.
Section 2. Members of the General Assembly shall be chosen at the general election every second year. Their term of service shall begin on the first day of December next after their election. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in either House, the presiding officer thereof shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term.

Legislative terms. 
Section 3. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years and Representatives for the term of two years.

Biennial meetings. Special sessions.
Section 4. The General Assembly shall meet at twelve o'clock, noon, on the first Tuesday of January every second year, and at other times when convened by the Governor, but shall hold no adjourned annual session after the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight. In case of a vacancy in the office of United States Senator from this Commonwealth, in a recess between sessions, the Governor shall convene the two Houses, by proclamation on notice not exceeding sixty days, to fill the same.

Amendment of November 3, 1959

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Qualifications of Senators and Representatives.
Section 5. Senators shall be at least twenty-five years of age and Representatives twenty-one years of age. They shall have been citizens and inhabitants of the State four years, and inhabitants of their respective districts one year next before their election (unless absent on the public business of the United States or of this State,) and shall reside in their respective districts during their terms of service.

Disqualification to appointment to office. Members of Congress, etc., ineligible for the General Assembly.
Section 6. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office under this Commonwealth, and no member of Congress, or other person holding any office (except of attorney-at-law or in the militia) under the United States or this Commonwealth shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Conviction of certain crimes to disqualify. 
Section 7. No person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, shall be eligible to the General As#Asembly, or capable of holding any office of trust or profit in this Commonwealth.

Compensation.
Section 8. The members of the General Assembly shall receive such salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service upon committee or otherwise. No member of either House shall, during the term for which he may have been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed during such term.

Presiding officers. Each house to judge of the qualifications of its members. 
Section 9. The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each regular session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect one of its members President pro tempore, who shall perform the duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or disability of that officer, and whenever the said office of Lieutenant Governor shall be vacant. The House of Representatives shall elect one of its members as Speaker. Each House shall choose its other officers, and shall judge of the election and qualifications of its members.

Quorum.
Section 10. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members.

Powers of each house.
Section 11. Each House shall have power to determine the rules of its proceedings and punish its members or other persons for contempt or disorderly behavior in its presence, to enforce obedience to its process, to protect its members against violence or offers of bribes or private solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, to expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause, and shall have all other powers necessary for the Legislature of a free State. A member expelled for corruption shall not thereafter be eligible to either House, and punishment for contempt or disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment for the same offence.

Each house shall keep and publish a journal.
Section 12. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings and from time to time publish the same, except such parts as require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any two of them, be entered on the journal.

Sessions to be open.
Section 13. The sessions of each House and of committees of the whole shall be open, unless when the business is such as ought to be kept secret.

Adjournments.
Section 14. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Privileges of members.
Section 15. The members of the General Assembly shall in all cases, except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of their respective Houses and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Senatorial districts.
Section 16. The State shall be divided into fifty senatorial districts of compact and contiguous territory, as nearly equal in population as may be, and each district shall be entitled to elect one Senator. Each county containing one or more ratios of population, shall be entitled to one Senator for each ratio, and to an additional Senator for a surplus of population exceeding three-fifths of a ratio, but no county shall form a separate district, unless it shall contain four-fifths of a ratio, except where the adjoining counties are each entitled to one or more Senators, when such county may be assigned a Senator on less than four-fifths and exceeding one-half of the ratio; and no county shall be divided unless entitled to two or more senators. No city or county shall be entitled to separate representation exceeding one-sixth of the whole number of Senators. No ward, borough or township shall be divided in the formation of a district. The senatorial ratio shall be ascertained by dividing the whole population of the state by the number fifty.

Representative districts.
Section 17. The members of the House of Representatives shall be apportioned among the several counties, on a ratio obtained by dividing the population of the State as ascertained by the most recent United States census by two hundred. Every county containing less than five ratios shall have one representative for every full ratio, and an additional representative when the surplus exceeds half a ratio; but each county shall have at least one representative. Every county containing five ratios or more shall have one representative for every full ratio. Every city containing a population equal to a ratio, shall elect separately its proportion of the representatives allotted to the county in which it is located. Every city entitled to more than four representatives, and every county having more than one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided into districts of compact and contiguous territory, each district to elect its proportion of representatives according to its population, but no district shall elect more than four representatives.

Apportionments.
Section 18. The General Assembly at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, and immediately after each United States decennial census, shall apportion the State into senatorial and representative districts agreeably to the provisions of the two next preceding sections.

ARTICLE III
LEGISLATION

Passage of bills. 
Section 1. No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be so altered or amended, on its passage through either House, as to change its original purpose.

Reference to committee. Printing.
Section 2. No bill shall be considered unless referred to a committee, returned therefrom, and printed for the use of the members.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

To contain but one subject expressed in the act.
Section 3. No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title.

To be read on three days. Amendments to be printed. Yeas and Nays.
Section 4. Every bill shall be read at length on three different days in each House; all amendments made thereto shall be printed for the use of the members before the final vote is taken on the bill, and no bill shall become a law, unless on its final passage the vote be taken by yeas and nays, the names of the persons voting for and against the same be entered on the journal, and a majority of the members elected to each House be recorded thereon as voting in its favor. 

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Vote concurring in amendments and on reports of conference to be yeas and nays.
Section 5. No amendment to bills by one House shall be concurred in by the other, except by the vote of a majority of the members elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against recorded upon the journal thereof; and reports of committees of conference shall be adopted in either House only by the vote of a majority of the members elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting recorded upon the journals.

Revival of law.
Section 6. No law shall be revived, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only, but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended or conferred shall be re-enacted and published at length.

Limitations on special legislation, &c.
Section 7. The General Assembly shall not pass any local or special law 
Authorizing the creation, extension or impairing of liens:
Regulating the affairs of counties, cities, townships, wards, boroughs, or school districts:
Changing the names of persons or places:
Changing the venue in civil or criminal cases:
Authorizing the laying out, opening, altering or maintaining roads, highways, streets, or alleys:
Relating to ferries or bridges, or incorporating ferry or bridge companies, except for the erection of bridges crossing streams which form boundaries between this and any other State:
Vacating roads, town-plats, streets or alleys:
Relating to cemeteries, graveyards, or public grounds not of the State:
Authorizing the adoption or legitimatization of children:
Locating or changing county seats, erecting new counties or changing county lines:
Incorporating cities, towns, or villages, or changing their charters:
For the opening and conducting of elections, or fixing or changing the place of voting:
Granting divorces:
Erecting new townships or boroughs, changing township lines, borough limits or school districts. Creating offices, or prescribing the powers and duties of officers in counties, cities, boroughs, townships, election or school districts:
Changing the law of descent or succession:
Regulating the practice or jurisdiction of, or changing the rules of evidence in, any judicial proceeding or inquiry before courts, aldermen, justices of the peace, sheriffs, commissioners, arbitrators, auditors, masters in chancery or other tribunals, or providing or changing methods for the collection of debts, or the enforcing of judgments, or prescribing the effect of judicial sales of real estate:
Regulating the fees, or extending the powers and duties of aldermen, justices of the peace, magistrates or constables:
Regulating the management of public schools, the building or repairing of school houses, and the raising of money for such purposes:
Fixing the rate of interest:
Affecting the estates of minors or persons under disability, except after due notice to all parties in interest, to be recited in the special enactment: Remitted fines, penalties and forfeitures, or refunding moneys legally paid into the treasury:
Exempting property from taxation:
Regulating labor, trade, mining or manufacturing:
Creating corporations, or amending, renewing or extending the charters thereof:
Granting to any corporation, association or individual any special or exclusive privilege or immunity, or to any corporation, association or individual the right to lay down a railroad track:
Nor shall the General Assembly indirectly enact such special or local law by the partial repeal of a general law; but laws repealing local or special acts may be passed:
Nor shall any law be passed granting powers or privileges in any case where the granting of such powers and privileges shall have been provided for by the general law, nor where the courts have jurisdiction to grant the same or give the relief asked for. Notice of local or special bills.

Section 8. No local or special bill shall be passed unless notice of the intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the locality where the matter or the thing to be effected may be situated, which notice shall be at least thirty days prior to the introduction into the General Assembly of such bill and in the manner to be provided by law; the evidence of such notice having been published, shall be exhibited in the General Assembly, before such act shall be passed.

Signing of bills by presiding officers.
Section 9. The presiding officer of each House shall, in the presence of the House over which he presides, sign all bills and joint resolutions passed by the General Assembly after their titles have been publicly read immediately before signing; and the fact of signing shall be entered on the journal.

Legislative officers.
Section 10. The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the number, duties and compensation of the officers and employees of each House, and no payment shall be made from the State Treasury, or be in any way authorized, to any person, except to an acting officer or employee elected or appointed in pursuance of law.

No extra compensation to officers or contractors.
Section 11. No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensation to any public officer, servant, employee, agent or contractor, after services shall have been rendered or contract made, nor providing for the payment of any claim against the Commonwealth without previous authority of law. 

Amendment of November 8, 1955

Public printing.
Section 12. All stationery, printing, paper and fuel used in the legislative and other departments of government shall be furnished, and the printing, binding and distributing of the laws, journals, department reports, and all other printing and binding, and the repairing and furnishing the halls and rooms used for the meetings of the General Assembly and its committees, shall be performed under contract to be given to the lowest responsible bidder below such maximum price and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by law; no member or officer of any department of the government shall be in any way interested in such contracts, and all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, Auditor General and State Treasurer.

No extension of official terms or increase of compensation.
Section 13. No law shall extend the term of any public officer, or increase or diminish his salary or emoluments, after his election or appointment.

Revenue bills.
Section 14. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments as in other bills.

Appropriation bills.
Section 15. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing but appropriations for the ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative and judicial departments of the Commonwealth, interest on the public debt and for public schools; all other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject.

Payment of moneys from the treasury.
Section 16. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury, except upon appropriations made by law, and on warrants drawn by the proper officer in pursuance thereof.

Amendment of November 7, 1961

Appropriations to charitable institutions.
Section 17. No appropriation shall be made to any charitable or educational institution not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth, other than normal schools established by law for the professional training of teachers for the public schools of the State, except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House.

Appropriations for charitable purposes, etc., limited.
Section 18. No appropriations, except for pensions or gratuities for military services, shall be made for charitable, educational, or benevolent purposes, to any person or community, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution, corporation or association.

Amendment of November 7, 1933

Amendment of November 2, 1937

Amendment of November 5, 1963

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Appropriations may be made for widows and orphans of soldiers.
Section 19. The General Assembly may make appropriations of money to institutions wherein the widows of soldiers are supported or assisted, or the orphans of soldiers are maintained and educated; but such appropriations shall be applied exclusively to the support of such widows and orphans.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Power over municipal administration not to be delegated.
Section 20. The General Assembly shall not delegate to any special commission, private corporation or association, any power to make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, money, property or effects, whether held in trust or otherwise, or to levy taxes or perform any municipal function whatever.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

No limitation of damages for certain injuries. Nor of time for bringing suits.
Section 21. No act of the General Assembly shall limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to persons or property; and, in case of death from such injuries, the right of action shall survive, and the General Assembly shall prescribe for whose benefit such actions shall be prosecuted. No act shall prescribe any limitations of time within which suits may be brought against corporations for injuries to persons or property, or for other causes different from those fixed by general laws regulating actions against natural persons, and such acts now existing are avoided.

Amendment of November 2, 1915

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Investment of trust funds.
Section 22. No act of the General Assembly shall authorize the investment of trust funds by executors, administrators, guardians or other trustees, in the bonds or stock of any private corporation, and such acts now existing are avoided saving investments heretofore made.

Amendment of November 7, 1933

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Changes of venue.
Section 23. The power to change the venue in civil and criminal cases shall be vested in the courts, to be exercised in such manner as shall be provided by law.

No obligation of corporations to the State to be released, etc.
Section 24. No obligation or liability of any railroad or other corporation, held or owned by the Commonwealth, shall ever be exchanged, transferred, remitted, postponed or in any way diminished by the General Assembly, nor shall such liability or obligation be released, except by payment thereof into the State Treasury.

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Limitations of legislative power at special sessions.
Section 25. When the General Assembly shall be convened in special session, there shall be no legislation upon subjects other than those designated in the proclamation of the Governor calling such session.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Concurrent orders, resolutions, and votes to presented to the Governor.
Section 26. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of both Houses may be necessary, except on the question of adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor and before it shall take effect be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be repassed by two-thirds of both Houses according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.

No State inspectors of merchandise.
Section 27. No State office shall be continued or created for the inspection of measuring of any merchandise, manufacture or commodity, but any county or municipality may appoint such officers when authorized by law.

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Changing location of State Capital.
Section 28. No law changing the location of the Capital of the State shall be valid until the same shall have been submitted to the qualified electors of the Commonwealth at a general election and ratified and approved by them.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Bribery by members of legislature.
Section 29. A member of the General Assembly who shall solicit, demand or receive, or consent to receive, directly or indirectly, for himself or for another, from any company, corporation or person, any money, office, appointment, employment, testimonial, reward, thing of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage, or promise thereof, for his vote or official influence, or for withholding the same, or with an understanding, expressed or implied, that his vote or official action shall be in any way influenced thereby, or who shall solicit or demand any such money or other advantage, matter or thing aforesaid for another, as the consideration of his vote or official influence, or for the withholding the same, or shall give or withhold his vote or influence in consideration of the payment or promise of such money, advantage, matter or thing to another, shall be held guilty of bribery within the meaning of this Constitution, and shall incur the disabilities provided thereby for said offence, and such additional punishment as is or shall be provided by law.

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Bribery of members of General Assembly and officers.
Section 30. Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, offer, give or promise, any money, or thing of value, testimonial, privilege, or personal advantage, to any executive or judicial officer, or member of the General Assembly, to influence him in the performance of any of his public or official duties, shall be guilty of bribery and be punished in such manner as shall be provided by law.

Repeal of May 16, 1967

The offence of corrupt solicitation to be punished by fine and imprisonment.
Section 31. The offence of corrupt solicitation of members of the General Assembly or of public officers of the State or any municipal division thereof, and any occupation or practice of solicitation of such members or officers to influence their official action, shall be defined by law and shall be punished by fine and imprisonment. 

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Amendment of November 7, 1967

Witnesses to testify in cases of bribery and solicitation. Punishment.
Section 32. Any person may be compelled to testify in any lawful investigation or judicial proceeding against any person who may be charged with having committed the offence of bribery or corrupt solicitation, or practices of solicitation, and shall not be permitted to withhold his testimony upon the ground that it may criminate himself or subject him to public infamy; but such testimony shall not afterwards be used against him in any judicial proceeding, except for perjury in giving such testimony, and any person convicted of either of the offences aforesaid shall, as part of the punishment therefor, be disqualified from holding any office or position of honor, trust or profit in this Commonwealth.

Repeal of May 16, 1967

Interested member shall not vote.
Section 33. A member who has a personal or private interest in any measure or bill proposed or pending before the General Assembly shall disclose the fact to the House of which he is a member, and shall not vote thereon.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Article III, Section 34. Added by Amendment of November 6, 1923

Article III, Section 34. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Article III, Section 35. Added by Amendment of November 5, 1963

Article III, Section 35. Amendment of May 16, 1967  

ARTICLE IV
THE EXECUTIVE

Executive officers.
Section 1. The Executive Department of this Commonwealth shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs and Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Article IV, Section 1. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Governor. His election. Returns of election. Contested elections.
Section 2. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; he shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the qualified electors of the Commonwealth, at the places where they shall vote for Representatives. The returns of every election for Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the President of the Senate, who shall open and publish them in the presence of the members of both Houses of the General Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor, but if two or more be equal and highest in votes, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of the members of both Houses. Contested elections shall be determined by a committee, to be selected from both Houses of the General Assembly, and formed and regulated in such manner as shall be directed by law.

Term of the Governor.
Section 3. The Governor shall hold his office during four years from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election, and shall not be eligible to the office for the next succeeding term. 

Article IV, Section 3. Amendment of May 16, 1967

The Lieutenant Governor.
Section 4. A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen at the same time, in the same manner, for the same term, and subject to the same provisions as the Governor; he shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

Article IV, Section 4. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Qualifications of Governor and Lieutenant Governor. 
Section 5. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor except a citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of thirty years, and have been seven years next preceding his election an inhabitant of the State, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State. 

Article IV, Secton 5 Amendment of May 16, 1967

Congressmen, &c., disqualified.
Section 6. No member of Congress or person holding any office any office under the United States or this State shall exercise the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor. 

Article IV, Section 6. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Governor to command militia.
Section 7. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the Commonwealth, and of the militia, except when they shall be called into actual service of the United States.

Article IV, Section 7. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Power of Governor to appoint with consent of Senate. To fill vacancies. Senate to act on nominations with open doors. Votes to be recorded.
Section 8. He shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, appoint a Secretary of the Commonwealth and an Attorney General during pleasure, a Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years, and such other officers of the Commonwealth as he is or may be authorized by the Constitution or by law to appoint; he shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen, in offices to which he may appoint, during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session: he shall have power to fill any vacancy that may happen, during the recess of the Senate, in the office of Auditor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs or Superintendent of Public Instruction, in a judicial office, or in any other elective office which he is or may be authorized to fill; if the vacancy shall happen during session of the Senate, the Governor shall nominate to the Senate, before their final adjournment, a proper person to fill said vacancy; but in any such case of vacancy, in an elective office, a person shall be chosen to said office at the next general election, unless the vacancy shall happen within three calendar months immediately preceding such election, in which case the election for said office shall be held at the second succeeding general election. In acting on Executive nominations the Senate shall sit with open doors, and, in confirming or rejecting the nominations of the Governor, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and shall be entered on the journal.

Article IV, Section 8. Amendment of November 2, 1909

Article IV, Section 8. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Pardoning power.
Section 9. He shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to grant reprieves, commutation of sentence and pardons, except in cases of impeachment; but no pardon shall be granted, nor sentence comuted, except upon the recommendation in writing of the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General and Secretary of Internal Affairs, or any three of them, after full hearing, upon due public notice and in open session, and such recommendation , with the reasons therefor at length, shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Article IV, Section 9. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Governor may require information from Executive officers.
Section 10. He may require information in writing from the officers of the Executive Department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

Article IV, Section 10. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Shall give information and recommend measures to General Assembly.
Section 11. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of the state of the Commonwealth, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may judge expedient.

May convene General Assembly and adjourn the two Houses when they disagree.
Section 12. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly, and in case of disagreement between the two Houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months. He shall have power to convene the Senate in extraordinary session by proclamation for the transaction of Executive business.

Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor.
Section 13. In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation, or other disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office, for the remainder of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor. 

Article IV, Section 13. Amendment of May 16, 1967

President pro temp of the Senate.
Section 14. In case of a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, or when the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached by the House of Representatives, or shall be unable to exercise the duties of his office, the powers, duties, and emoluments thereof for the remainder of the term, or until the disability be removed, shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate; and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall in like manner become Governor if a vacancy or disability shall occur in the office of Governor; his seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he shall become Governor, and shall be filled by election as any other vacancy in the Senate.

Article IV, Section 14. Amendment of May 16, 1967 

Approval of bills. Vetoes. Retained bills to become law. Exception.
Section 15. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses shall be presented to the Governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if he shall not approve he shall return it with his objections to the House in which it shall have originated, which House shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to re-consider it. If, after such re-consideration, two-thirds of all the members elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other House by which likewise it shall be re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to that House it shall be a law; but in such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, unless he shall file the same, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and give notice thereof by public proclamation within thirty days after such adjournment.

A partial veto allowed on appropriation bills.
Section 16. The Governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or items of any bill, making appropriations of money, embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved shall be the law, and the item or items of appropriation disapproved shall be void, unless re-passed according to the rules and limitations prescribed for the passage of other bills over the Executive veto.

Chief Justice to preside on trial of contested election of Governor or Lieutenant Governor.
Section 17. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside upon the trial of any contested election of Governor or Lieutenant Governor and shall decide questions regarding the admissibility of evidence, and shall, upon request of the committee, pronounce his opinion upon other questions of law involved in the trial. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall exercise the duties of their respective offices until their successors shall be duly qualified.

Secretary of Commonwealth. 
Section 18. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall keep a record of all official acts and proceedings of the Governor, and when required lay the same, with all papers, minutes and vouchers relating thereto, before either branch of the General Assembly, and perform such other duties as may be enjoined upon by law.

Repealed on May 16, 1967

Article IV, Section 18. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Secretary of Internal Affairs.
Section 19. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall exercise all of the powers and perform all the duties of the Surveyor General, subject to such changes as shall be made by law. His department shall embrace a bureau of industrial statistics, and he shall discharge such duties relating to corporations, to the charitable institutions, the agricultural, manufacturing, mining, mineral, timber and other material or business interests of the State as may be prescribed by law. He shall annually, and at such other times as may be required by law, make report to the General Assembly.

Repealed on May 16, 1967

Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Section 20. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of the Superintendent of the Common Schools, subject to such changes as shall be made by law.

Repealed on May 16, 1967

Terms of heads of departments.
Section 21. The term of the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall be four years; of the Auditor General three years; and of the State Treasurer two years. These officers shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State at general elections. No person elected to the office of Auditor General or State Treasurer shall be capable of holding the same office for two consecutive terms.

Amendment of November 9, 1909

Amendment of November 7, 1961

Seal of state. Commissions to be signed and sealed.
Section 22. The present Great Seal of Pennsylvania shall be the seal of the State. All commissions shall be in the name and by authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be sealed with the State seal and signed by the Governor. 

Article IV, Section 22. Amendment of May 16, 1967

Article IV, Schedule. Added by Amendment of May 16, 1967

ARTICLE V
THE JUDICIARY

The courts.
Section 1. The judicial power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in a Supreme Court, in courts of common pleas, courts of oyer and terminal and general jail delivery, courts of quarter sessions of the peace, orphans' court, magistrates' court, and in such other courts as the General Assembly may from time to time establish.

The Supreme Court. Tenure of judges. Chief Justice. 
Section 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of seven judges, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the State at large. They shall hold their offices for the term of twenty-one years, if they so long behave themselves well, but shall not be again eligible. The judge whose commission shall first expire shall be chief justice, and thereafter each judge whose commission shall first expire shall in turn be chief justice.

Jurisdiction of Supreme Court.
Section 3. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall extend over the State, and the judges thereof shall, by virtue of their offices, be justices of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery in the several counties; they shall have original jurisdiction in cases of injunction where a corporation is a party defendant, of habeas corpus, of mandamus to courts of inferior jurisdiction, and of quo warranto as to all officers of the Commonwealth whose jurisdiction extends over the State, but shall not exercise any other original jurisdiction; they shall have appellate jurisdiction by appeal, certiorari or writ of error in all cases, as is now or may hereafter be provided by law.

Courts of common pleas. Districts not to contain more than four counties.
Section 4. Until otherwise directed by law, courts of common pleas shall continue as at present established, except as herein changed; not more than four counties shall, at any time, be included in one judicial district organized for said courts. 

Judicial districts. Office of associate judge abolished.
Section 5. Whenever a county shall contain forty thousand inhabitants it shall constitute a separate judicial district, and shall elect one judge learned in the law; and the General Assembly shall provide for additional judges, as the business of the said districts may require. Counties containing a population less than is sufficient to constitute separate districts shall be formed into convenient single districts, or, if necessary, may be attached to contiguous districts as the General Assembly may provide. The office of associate judge, not learned in the law, is abolished in counties forming separate districts; but the several associate judges in office when this Constitution shall be adopted shall serve for their unexpired terms.

Common pleas courts in Philadelphia and Allegheny. Increase of judges in common pleas courts.
Section 6. In the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in the district courts and courts of common pleas, subject to such changes as may be made by this Constitution or by law shall be in Philadelphia vested in four, and in Allegheny in two, distinct and separate courts, of equal and co-ordinate jurisdiction composed of three judges each; the said courts in Philadelphia shall be designated respectively as the courts of common pleas number one, number two, number three, and number four, and in Allegheny as the court of common pleas number one and number two, but the number of said courts may be by law increased from time to time, and shall be in like manner designated by successive numbers; the number of judges in any of said courts, or in any county where the establishment of an additional court may be authorized by law, may be increased from time to time, and whenever such increase shall amount in the whole to three, such three judges shall compose a distinct and separate court as aforesaid, which shall be numbered as aforesaid. In Philadelphia all suits shall be instituted in the said courts of common pleas without designating the number of said court, and the several courts shall distribute and apportion the business among them in such manner as shall be provided by rules of court, and each court, to which any suit shall be thus assigned, shall have exclusive jurisdiction thereof, subject to change of venue, as shall be provided by law. In Allegheny each court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all proceedings at law and in equity, commenced therein, subject to change of venue as may be provided by law.

Article V, Section 6. Amendment of November 7, 1911

Prothonotary in Philadelphia. Separate dockets for courts; but one judgment and lien docket.
Section 7. For Philadelphia, there shall be one prothonotary's office, and one prothonotary for all said courts to be appointed by the judges of said courts, and to hold office for three years, subject to removal by a majority of the said judges; the said prothonotary shall appoint such assistants as may be necessary and authorized by said courts; and he and his assistants shall receive fixed salaries to be determined by law and paid by said county; all fees collected in said office, except such as may by law due to the Commonwealth, shall be paid by the prothonotary into the county treasury. Each court shall have its separate dockets, except the judgment docket which shall contain the judgments and liens of all the said courts, as is or may be directed by law.

Criminal courts in Philadelphia and Allegheny.
Section 8. The said courts in the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny, respectively, shall from time to time, in turn, detail one or more of their judges to hold the courts of oyer and terminer and the courts of quarter sessions of the peace of said counties, in such manner as may be directed by law.

Jurisdiction of common pleas judges.
Section 9. Judges of the court of common pleas learned in the law shall be judges of the courts of oyer and terminer, quarter sessions of the peace and general jail delivery, and of the orphans' court, and within their respective districts shall be justices of the peace as to criminal matters. 

May issue writs of certiorari to inferior courts.
Section 10. The judges of the courts of common pleas, within their respective counties, shall have power to issue writs of certiorari justices of the peace and other inferior courts, not of record, and to cause their proceedings to be brought before them, and right and justice to be done. 

Justices of the peace and aldermen.
Section 11. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, justices of the peace or aldermen shall be elected in the several wards, districts, boroughs and townships, at the time of the election of constables, by the qualified electors thereof, in such manner as shall be directed by law, and shall be commissioned by the Governor for a term of five years. No township, ward, district, or borough shall elect more than two justices of the peace or aldermen without the consent of a majority of the qualified electors within such township, ward, or borough; no person shall be elected to such office unless he shall have resided within the township, borough, ward or district for one year next preceding his election. In cities containing over fifty thousand inhabitants, not more than one alderman shall be elected in each ward or district.

Article V, Section 11. Amendment of November 2, 1909

Magistrates in Philadelphia.
Section 12. In Philadelphia there shall be established, for each thirty thousand inhabitants, one court not of record, of police and civil causes, with jurisdiction not exceeding one hundred dollars; such courts shall be held by magistrates on whose term of office shall be five years, and they shall be elected on general ticket by the qualified voters at large, and in election of the said magistrates, no voter shall vote for more than two-thirds of the number of persons to be elected when more than one are to be chosen; they shall be compensated only by fixed salaries, to be paid by said county; and shall exercise such jurisdiction, civil and criminal, except as herein provided, as is now exercised by aldermen, subject to such changes, not involving an increase of civil jurisdiction or conferring political duties, as may be made by law. In Philadelphia the office of alderman is abolished.

Article V, Section 12. Amendment of November 2, 1909

Section 13. All fees, fines, and penalties in said courts shall be paid into the county treasury.

Appeals from summary conviction.
Section 14. In all cases of summary conviction in this Commonwealth, or of judgment in suit for a penalty, before a magistrate or court not of record, either party may appeal to such court of record as may be prescribed by law, upon allowance of the appellate court or judge thereof upon cause shown.

Election and term of judges. Removal. 
Section 15. All judges required to be learned in the law, except the judges of the Supreme Court, shall be elected by qualified electors of the respective districts over which they are to preside, and shall hold their office for the period of twenty one years, if they shall so long behave themselves well; but for any reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the Governor may remove any of them on the address of two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly.

Election of judges of Supreme Court by limited vote.
Section 16. Whenever two judges of the Supreme Court are to be chosen for the same term of service each voter shall vote for one only, and when they are to be chosen he shall vote for no more than two; candidates highest in vote shall be declared elected.

Priority of commissions of judges.
Section 17. Should any two or more judges of the Supreme Court, or any two or more judges of the court of common pleas for the same district, be elected at the same time, they shall as soon after the election as convenient, cast lots for priority of commission and certify the result to the Governor, who shall issue their commissions in accordance therewith.

Compensation of judges. Disqualification.
Section 18. The judges of the supreme court and of the several courts of common pleas, and all other judges required to be learned in the law, shall at stated times receive for their services an adequate compensation which shall be fixed by law, and paid by the state. They shall receive no other compensation, fees, or perquisites of office, for their services from any source, nor hold any other office of profit under the United States, this state, or any other state.

Residence of judges.
Section 19. The judges of the Supreme Court during their continuance in office, shall reside within the districts for which they shall be, respectively, elected.

Chancery powers of courts of common pleas.
Section 20. The several courts of common pleas, besides the powers herein conferred, shall have and exercise within their respective districts, subject to such changes as may be made by law, such chancery powers as are now vested by law in the several courts of common pleas of this commonwealth, or as may hereafter be conferred upon them by law.

No extra judicial duties for judges.
Section 21. No duties shall be imposed by law upon the Supreme Court or any of the judges thereof, except such as are judicial; nor shall any of the judges exercise any power of appointment except as herein provided. The court of nisi prius is hereby abolished, and no court of original jurisdiction, to be presided over by any one or more of the judges of the supreme court shall be established.

Separate orphans' courts. Register of wills to be clerk thereof. Accounts therein to be audited by courts.
Section 22. In every county wherein the population shall exceed one hundred and fifty thousand the General Assembly shall, and in any other county may, establish a separate orphans' court to consist of one or more judges, who shall be learned in the law, which court shall exercise all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in, or which may hereafter by conferred upon, the orphans' courts, and thereupon the jurisdiction of the judges of the court of common pleas within such county in orphans' court proceedings shall cease and determine. In any county in which a separate orphans' court shall be established, the register of wills shall be clerk of such court, and subject to its directions in all matters pertaining to his office; he may appoint assistant clerks, but only with consent and approval of said court. All accounts filed with him as register or as clerk of the said separate orphans' court shall be audited by the court without expense to parties, except where all parties in interest in a pending proceeding shall nominate an auditor, whom the court may in its discretion appoint. In every county orphans' courts shall possess all the powers and jurisdiction of a registers' court, and separate registers' courts are hereby abolished.

Style of process and indictment.
Section 23. The style of all process shall be, "The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and conclude, "against the peace and dignity of the same."

Review in Supreme Court in criminal cases.
Section 24. In all cases of felonious homicide, and in such other criminal cases as may be provided by law, the accused, after conviction and sentence, may remove the indictment, record, and all proceedings to the Supreme Court for review.

Vacancies in courtsñhow filled.
Section 25. Any vacancy happening by death, resignation, or otherwise, in any court of record, shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, to continue till the first Monday of January next succeeding the first general election, which shall occur three or more months after the happening of such a vacancy.

Uniform laws for the courts, &c. Special courts prohibited.
Section 26. All laws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform operation, and the organization, jurisdiction, and powers of all courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the process and judgments of such courts shall be uniform; and the General Assembly is hereby prohibited from creating other courts to exercise the powers vested by this constitution in the judges of the courts of common pleas and orphans' courts.

Parties may submit issues of fact to the court. Appeals.
Section 27. The parties by agreement filed may, in any civil case, dispense with trial by jury, and submit the decision of such case to the court having jurisdiction thereof, and such court shall hear and determine the same; and the judgment thereon shall be subject to a writ of error, as in other cases.

ARTICLE VI
IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Impeachment.
Section 1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment.

How tried.
Section 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, when sitting for that purpose the senators shall be upon oath or affirmation; no person shall be convicted without concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

What officers impeached. Judgment.
Section 3. The Governor and all other civil officers shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under this Commonwealth; the person accused, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.

Condition of official tenure. Removal.
Section 4. All officers shall hold their offices on the condition that they behave themselves while in office, and shall be removed on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime. Appointed civil officers, other than judges of the courts of record and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may be removed at the pleasure of the power by which they shall have been appointed. All officers elected by the people, except Governor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the General Assembly, and judges of the courts of record learned in the law, shall be removed by the Governor for reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the address of two-thirds of the Senate.

ARTICLE VII
OATH OF OFFICE

General oath of office.
Section 1. Senators, Representatives and all judicial, State and county officers shall, before entering on the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity; that I have not paid or contributed, or promised to pay or contribute, either directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing, to procure my nomination or election, (or appointment,) except for necessary and proper expenses expressly authorized by law; that I have not knowingly violated any election law of this Commonwealth, or procured it to be done by others on my behalf; that I will not knowingly receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing for the performance or non-performance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by law."

The foregoing oath shall be administered by some person authorized to administer oaths, and in the same case of State officers and judges of the Supreme Court, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and in the case of other judicial and county officers, in the office of the prothonotary of the county in which the same is taken; any person refusing to take said oath or affirmation shall forfeit his office; and any person who shall be convicted of having sworn or affirmed falsely, or of having violated said oath or affirmation, shall be guilty of perjury, and be forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit within this Commonwealth. The oath to the members of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be administered by one of the judges of the Supreme Court or of a court of common pleas learned in the law, in the hall of the House to which the members shall be elected. 

ARTICLE VIII
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS

Qualifications of voters.
Section 1. Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections:
First--He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month.
Second--He shall have resided in the State one year (or if, having previously been a qualified elector or native born citizen of the State, he shall have removed therefrom and returned, then six months) immediately preceding the election. 
Third--He shall have resided in the election district where he shall offer to vote at least two months immediately preceding the election.
Fourth--If twenty-two years of age or upwards, he shall have paid within two years a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least two months and paid at least one month before the election.

Amendment of November 5, 1901

Amendment of November 7, 1933

Amendment of November 3, 1959

Amendment of May 16, 1967

General elections.
Section 2. The general election shall be held annually on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November, but the General Assembly may be law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto.

Amendment of November 2, 1909

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Municipal elections.
Section 3. All elections for city, ward, borough and township officers, for regular terms of service, shall be held on the third Tuesday of February. 

Amendment of November 2, 1909

Amendment of November 4, 1913

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Elections to be by ballot and ballots numbered. Endorsements thereon authorized.
Section 4. All elections by the citizens shall be by ballot. Every ballot voted shall be numbered in the order in which it shall be received, and the number recorded by the election officers on the list of voters, opposite the name of the elector who presents the ballot. Any elector may write his name upon his ticket or cause the same to be written thereon and attested by a citizen of the district. The election officers shall be sworn or affirmed not to disclose how any elector shall have voted unless required to do so as witensses in a judicial proceeding.

Amendment of November 5, 1901

Electors privileged from arrest.
Section 5. Electors shall in all cases except treason, felony and breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections and in going to and returning therefrom.

Soldier voting.
Section 6. Whenever any of the qualified electors of this Commonwealth shall be in actual military service, under a requisition from the President of the United States or by the authority of this Commonwealth, such electors may exercise the right of suffrage in all elections by the citizens, under such regulations as are or shall be prescribed by law, as fully as if they were present at their usual place of election. 

Repealed. May 16, 1967

Election laws to be uniform, but unregistered electors may vote.
Section 7. All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citizens or for the registration of electors shall be uniform throughout the State, but no elector shall be deprived of the privilege of voting by reason of his name not being registered.

Amendment of November 5, 1901

Amendment of November 6, 1928

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Corruption to disqualify voters. Challenge.
Section 8. Any person who shall give, or promise or offer to give, to an elector, any money, reward or other valuable consideration for his vote at an election, or for withholding the same, or who shall give or promise to give such consideration to any other person or party for such elector's vote for the withholding thereof, and any elector who shall receive or agree to receive, for himself or for another, any money, reward or other valuable consideration for his vote at an election, or for withholding the same, shall thereby forfeit the right to vote at such election, and any elector whose right to vote shall be challenged for such cause before the election officers, shall be required to swear or affirm that the matter of the challenge is untrue before his vote shall be received.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Candidate guilty of bribery, &c., disqualified from office. Wilful violation of election laws to disqualify for voting.
Section 9. Any person who shall, while a candidate for office, be guilty of bribery, fraud, or wilful violation of any election law, shall be forever disqualified from holding an office of trust or profit in this Commonwealth; and any person convicted of wilful violation of the election laws shall, in addition to any penalty provided by law, be deprived of the right of suffrage absolutely for a term of four years.

Repealed on May 16, 1967

Witnesses not to withhold testimony in election cases.
Section 10. In trials of contested elections and in proceedings for the investigation of elections, no person shall be permitted to withhold his testimony upon the ground that it may criminate himself or subject him to public infamy; but such testimony shall not afterwards be used against him in any judicial proceedings except for perjury in giving such testimony.

Amendment of May 16, 1967

Election districts.
Section 11. Townships, and wards of cities or boroughs, shall form or be divided into election districts of compact and contiguous territory, in such manner as the court of quarter sessions of the city or county in which the same are located may direct; but districts in cities of over one hundred thousand inhabitants shall be divided by the courts of quarter sessions, having jurisdiction therein, whenever at the next preceding election more than two hundred and fifty votes shall have been polled therein; and other election districts whenever the court of the proper county shall be of opinion that the convenience of the electors and the public interests will be promoted thereby.

Amendment of November 6, 1928

Representatives to vote viva voce.
Section 12. All elections by persons in a representative capacity shall be viva voce.

Residence of voters not gained or lost in certain cases.
Section 13. For the purposes of voting no person shall be deemed to have gained a residence by reason of his presence, or lost it by reason of his absence, while employed in the service, either civil or military, of this State or of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of the State or the United States, or on the high seas, nor while a student of any institution of learning, nor while kept in any poor house or other asylum at public expense nor while confined in public prison.

Election boards. Clerks. Vacancies. Privileges of election officers.
Section 14. District election boards shall consist of a judge and two inspectors, who shall be chosen annually by the citizens. Each elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election boards filled, as shall be provided by law. Election officers shall be privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged in making up and transmitting returns, except upon warrant of a court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, or for wanton breach of the peace. In cities they may claim exemption from jury duty during their terms of service.

Government officers and employees disqualified to serve as election officers. Ineligibility of election officers.
Section 15. No person shall be qualified to serve as an election officer who shall hold, or shall within two months have held any office, appointment or employment in or under the government of the United States or of this State, or of any city, or county, or of any other municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only justices of the peace and aldermen, notaries public and persons in the militia service of the State; nor shall any election officer be eligible to any civil office to be filled at an election at which he shall serve, save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below the grade of city or county offices, as shall be designated by general law.

Courts of common pleas may appoint overseers of elections. Overseers may decide questions of difference.
Section 16. The courts of common pleas of the several counties of the Commonwealth shall have power within their respective jurisdictions, to appoint overseers of election to supervise the proceedings of election officers and to make report to the court as may be required; such appointments to be made for any district in a city or county upon petition of five citizens, lawful voters of such election district, setting forth that such appointment is a reasonable precaution to secure the purity and fairness of elections; overseers shall be two in number for an election district, shall be residents therein, and shall be persons qualified to serve upon election boards, and in each case members of different political parties; whenever the members of an election shall differ in opinion the overseers, if they agree thereon, shall decide the question of difference; in appointing overseers of election all the law judges of the proper court, able to act at the time, shall concur in the appointment made.

Trial of contested elections.
Section 17. The trial and determination of contested elections of electors of President and Vice-President, members of the General Assembly, and of all public officers, whether State, judicial, municipal or local, shall be by the courts of law, or by one or more of the law judges thereof; the General Assembly shall, by general law, designate the courts and judges by whom the several classes of election contests shall be tried, and regulate the manner of trial and all matters incident thereto; but no such law assigning jurisdiction, or regulating its exercise, shall apply to any contest arising out of an election held before its passage.

ARTICLE IX
TAXATION AND FINANCE

Taxes to be uniform. Exemptions.
Section 1. All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws.

Limitations of power to exempt.
Section 2. All laws exempting property from taxation, other than the property above enumerated, shall be void.

Power to tax corporations not to be surrendered.
Section 3. The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to which the State shall be a party.

Power to make debts.
Section 4. No debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State, except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasions, suppress insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never exceed, in the aggregate at any one time, one million of dollars. 

Moneys borrowed to be used for purpose specified.
Section 5. All laws, authorizing the borrowing of money by and on behalf of the State, shall specify the purpose for which the money is to be used, and the money so borrowed shall be used for the purpose specified and no other.

Taxation of corporations.
Section 6. The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or suspended by any contract or grant to which the Commonwealth shall be a party.

State credit not to be loaned, &c.
Section 6. The credit of the Commonwealth shall not be pledged or loaned to any individual, company, corporation or association, nor shall the Commonwealth become a joint owner or stockholder in any company, association or corporation.

Municipalities not to become stockholders, &c.
Section 7. The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, city, borough, township or incorporated idstirct to become a stockholder in any company, association or corporation, or to obtain or appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation, association, institution or individual.

Municipal debts limited.
Section 8. The debt of any municipality, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district, except as herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof at a public election, in such manner as shall be provided by law; but any city, the debt of which now exceeds seven per centum of such assessed valuation, may be authorized by law to increase the same three per centum, in the aggregate at any one time, upon such valuation.

No assumption of municipal debts by State.
Section 9. The Commonwealth shall not assume the debt, or any part thereof, of any city, county, borough or township, unless such debt shall have been contracted to enable the State to repel invasion, suppress domestic insurrection, defend in time of war, or to assist the State in the discharge of any portion of its present indebtedness.

Re-payment of municipal debts by the State.
Section 10. Any county, township, school district or other municipality incurring any indebtedness shall, at or before the time of so doing, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and also the principle thereof within thirty years.

Sinking fund.
Section 11. To provide for the payment of the present State debt, and any additional debt contracted as aforesaid, the General Assembly shall continue and maintain the sinking fund, sufficient to pay the accruing interest on such debt, and annually to reduce the principal thereof by a sum of not less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; the said sinking fund shall consist of the proceeds of the sale of the public works or any part thereof, and of the income or proceeds of the sale of any stocks owned by the Commonwealth, together with other funds and resources that may be delegated by law, and shall be increased from time to time by assigning to it any part of the taxes or other revenues of the State not required for the ordinary and current expenses of government and unless in case of war, invasion or insurrection, no part of the said sinking fund shall be used or applied otherwise than in the extinguishment of the public debt.

Section 12. The moneys of the State, over and above the necessary reserve, shall be used in the payment of the debt of the State either directly or through the sinking fund, and the moneys of the sinking fund shall never be invested in or loaned upon the security of anything, except the bonds of the United States or of this State.

Reserve to the treasury.
Section 13. The moneys held as necessary reserve shall be limited by law to the amount required for current expenses, and shall be secured and kept as may be provided by law. Monthly statements shall be published showing the amount of such moneys, where the same are deposited, and how secured.

Reserve not to be converted to private use.
Section 14. The making of profit out of the public moneys or making the same for any purpose not authorized by law by any officer of the State, or member or officer of the General Assembly, shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punished as may be provided by law, but part of such punishment shall be disqualification to hold office for a period of not less than five years.

ARTICLE X 
EDUCATION

Public schools to be maintained. Amount appropriated.
Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public schools, wherein all the children of this Commonwealth above the age of six years may be educated, and shall appropriate at least one million dollars each year for that purpose. 

No appropriation to sectarian schools.
Section 2. No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.

Women eligible to school offices.
Section 3. Women twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be eligible to any office of control or management under the school laws of this State. 

ARTICLE XI
MILITIA

Organization of militia. Exemption authorized.
Section 1. The freemen of this Commonwealth shall be armed, organized and disciplined for its defence when and in such manner as may be directed by law. The General Assembly shall provide for maintaining the militia by appropriations from the Treasury of the Commonwealth, and may exempt from military service persons having conscientious scruples against bearing arms.

ARTICLE XII
PUBLIC OFFICERS

Selection of public officers.
Section 1. All officers, whose selection is not provided for in this Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may be directed by law.

Amendment of November 2, 1909

Federal officers disqualified for state offices.
Section 2. No member of Congress from the State, nor any person holding or exercising any office or appointment of trust or profit under the United States, shall at the same time hold or exercise any office in this State to which a salary, fees or perquisites shall be attached. The General Assembly may by law declare what offices are incompatible.

Dueling disqualification for office.
Section 3. Any person who shall fight a duel or send a challenge for that purpose, or be an aider or abettor in fighting a duel, shall be deprived of the right of holding any office of honor or profit in this State, and may be otherwise punished as shall be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XIII
NEW COUNTIES

Limitation of power to create counties.
Section 1. No new county shall be established which shall reduce any county to less than four hundred square miles, or to less than twenty thousand inhabitants; nor shall any county be formed of less area, or containing a less population; nor shall any line thereof pass within ten miles of the new county seat of any county proposed to be divided.

ARTICLE XIV
COUNTY OFFICERS

County officers.
Section 1. County officers shall consist of sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, register of wills, recorders of deeds, commissioners, treasurers, surveyors, auditors or controllers, clerks of the courts, district attorneys and such others as may be from time to time be established by law; and no sheriff or treasurer shall be eligible for the term next succeeding the one for which he may be elected.

Amendment of November 6, 1945

Election and tenure. Vacancies.
Section 2. County officers shall be elected at the general elections and shall hold their offices for the term of three years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after their election, and until their successors shall be duly qualified; all vacancies not otherwise provided for, shall be filled in such manner as may be provided by law.

Amendment of November 2, 1909

Residence of county officers.
Section 3. No person shall be appointed to any office within any county who shall not have been a citizen and an inhabitant therein one year next before his appointment, if the county shall have been so long erected, but if it shall not have been so long erected, then within the limits of the county or counties out of which it shall have been taken.

Offices to be kept to county town.
Section 4. Prothonotaries, clerks of the courts, recorders of deeds, register of wills, county surveyors and sheriffs, shall keep their offices in the county town of the county in which they respectively shall be officers.

Compensation.
Section 5. The compensation of county officers shall be regulated by law, and all county officers who are or who may be salaried shall pay all fees which they may be authorized to receive, into the treasury of the county or State, as may be directed by law. In counties containing over one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants all county officers shall be paid by salary, and the salary of any such officer and his clerks, heretofore paid by fees, shall not exceed the aggregate amount of fees earned during his term and collected by and for him.

Accountability of municipal officers.
Section 6. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the strict accountability of all county, township and borough officers, as well for the fees which may be collected by them, as for all public or municipal moneys which may be paid to them.

County commissioners and auditors to be chosen by limited vote. Vacancies--how filled.
Section 7. Three county commissioners and three county auditors shall be elected in each county where such officers are chosen, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five and every third year thereafter; and in the election of said officers each qualified elector shall vote for no more than two persons, and the three persons having the highest number of votes shall be elected; any casual vacancy in the office of county commissioner or county auditor shall be filled by the court of common pleas of the county in which such vacancy shall occur, by the appointment of an elector of the proper county who shall have voted for the commissioner or auditor whose place is to be filled.

Amendment of November 2, 1909

Amendment of November 6, 1951

ARTICLE XV
CITIES AND CITY CHARTERS

General laws to establish cities.
Section 1. Cities may be chartered whenever a majority of the electors of any town or borough having a population of at least ten thousand shall vote at any general election in favor of the same.

Amendment of November 7, 1922

Municipal commissions not to incur debts except on appropriations.
Section 2. No debt shall be contracted or liability incurred by any municipal commission, except in pursuance of an appropriation previously made therefor by the municipal government.

Sinking funds in cities.
Section 3. Every city shall create a sinking fund, which shall be inviolably pledged for the payment of its funded debt.

Section 4. Added. Amendment of November 6, 1928 

Section 5. Added. Amendment of November 7, 1933

ARTICLE XVI
PRIVATE CORPORATIONS

Unused charters to be void.
Section 1. All existing charters, or grants of special or exclusive privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not have taken place and business been commenced in good faith, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity.

No charter to be validated or amended except on condition.
Section 2. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation now existing, or alter or amend the same, or pass any other general or special law for the benefit of such corporation, except upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

Right of eminent domain not be abridged or police power to be limited.
Section 3. The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be abridged or so construed as to prevent the General Assembly from taking the property and franchises of incorporated companies, and subjecting them to public use, the same as the property of individuals; and the exercise of the police power of the State shall never be abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights of individuals or the general well-being of the State.

Cumulative voting in stockholder elections.
Section 4. In all elections for directors or managers of a corporation each member or shareholder may cast the whole number of his votes for one candidate, or distribute them upon two or more candidates, as he may prefer.Foreign corporations to have places of business in State.

Section 5. No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State without having one or more known places of business and an authorized agent or agents in the same upon whom process may be served.

Corporations not to engage in business unauthorized by their charters.
Section 6. No corporation shall engage in any business other than that expressly authorized in its charter, nor shall it take or hold any real estate except such as may be necessary and proper for its legitimate business.

The fictitious increase of stocks or bonds forbidden.
Section 7. No corporations shall issue stocks or bonds except for money, labor done, or money or property actually received; and all fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock and indebtedness of corporations shall not be increased except in pursuance of general law, nor without the consent of the persons holding the larger amount in value of the stock, first obtained at a meeting to be held after sixty days notice given in pursuance of law.

Amendment of November 6, 1956

The taking and injury of private property to be compensated. Appeals from assessment of damages.
Section 8. Municipal and other corporations and individuals invested with the privilege of taking private property for public use shall make just compensation for property taken, injured or destroyed by the construction or enlargement of their works, highways or improvements, which compensation shall be paid or secured before such taking, injury or destruction. The General Assembly is hereby prohibited from depriving any person of an appeal from any preliminary assessment of damages against any such corporations or individuals made by viewers or otherwise; and the amount of such damages in all cases of appeal shall on demand of either party be determined by a jury according to the course of the common law.

Bank notes or bills to be secure.
Section 9. Every banking law shall provide for the registry and countersigning, by an officer of the State, of all notes or bills designed for circulation, and that ample security to the full amount thereof shall be deposited with the Auditor General for the redemption of such notes or bills.

Repeal of charter authorized. No law to create, &c., more than one charter.
Section 10. The General Assembly shall have the power to alter, revoke or annul any charter of incorporation now existing and revocable at the adoption of this Constitution, or any that may hereafter be created, whenever in their opinion it may be injurious to the citizens of this Commonwealth, in such manner, however, that no injustice shall be done to the corporators. No law hereafter enacted shall create, renew or extend the charter of more than one corporation.

Notice of bills to create banks. Bank charters limited to twenty years.
Section 11. No corporate body to possess banking and discounting privileges shall be created or organized in pursuance of any law without three months' previous public notice, at the place of the intended location, of the intention to apply for such privileges, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law, nor shall a charter for such privilege be granted for a longer period than twenty years.

Amendment of November 2, 1920

Section 12. Any association or corporation organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph within this State, and to connect the same with other lines, and the General Assembly shall, by general law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to give full effect to this section. No telegraph company shall consolidate with, or hold a controlling interest in the stock or bonds of, any other telegraph company owning a competing line, or acquire, by purchase or otherwise, any other competing line of telegraph.

The word "corporation" defined.
Section 13. The term "corporations," as used in this article, shall be construed to include all joint stock companies or associations having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships.

ARTICLE XVII
RAILROADS AND CANALS

Railroads and canals, public highways. May be constructed. Shall have connections and use of connecting roads.
Section 1. All railroads and canals shall be public highways, and all railroad and canal companies shall be common carriers. Any association or corporation organized for the purpose shall have the right to construct and operate a railroad between any points within this State, and to connect at the State line with railroads of other States. Every railroad company shall have the right with its road to intersect, connect with or cross any other railroad; and shall receive and transport each other's passengers, tonnage and cars loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination.

Railroad and canal companies to keep offices in the State.
Section 2. Every railroad and canal corporation organized in this State shall maintain an office therein where transfers of its stock shall be made, and where its books shall be kept for inspection by any stockholder or creditor of such corpo-ration, in which shall be recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed or paid in, and by whom, the names of the owners of its stock and the amounts owned by them, respectively, the transfers of aid stock, and the names and places of residence of its officers.

Discrimination in charges for freight and passengers prohibited.
Section 3. All individuals, associations and corporations shall have equal right to have persons and property transported over railroads and canals, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall be made in charges for, or in facilities for, transportation of freight or passengers within the State or coming from or going to any other State. Persons and property transported over any railroad shall be delivered at any station at charges not exceeding the charges for transportation of persons and property of the same class in the same direction to any more distant station; but excursion and commutation tickets may be issued at special rates.

Amendment of November 7, 1933

Consolidation with competing companies prohibited. Officers of companies not to be officers of competing companies.
Section 4. No railroad, canal or other corporation, or the lessees, purchasers or managers of any railroad or canal corporation, shall consolidate the stock, property or franchises of such corporation with, or lease, or purchase the works or franchises of, or in any way control any other railroad or canal corporation owning or having under its control a parallel or competing line; nor shall any officer of such railroad or canal corporation act as an officer of any other railroad or canal corporation owning or having the control of a parallel or competing line; and the question whether railroads or canals are parallel or competing lines shall, when demanded by the party complainant, be decided by a jury as in other civil issues.

Common carrier corporations not to engage in mining, manufacturing, &c. Exception.
Section 5. No incorporated company doing the business of a common carrier shall, directly or indirectly, prosecute or engage in mining or manufacturing articles for transportation over its works; nor shall such company, directly or indirectly, engage in any other business than that of common carriers, or hold or acquire lands, freehold or leasehold, directly or indirectly, except such as shall be necessary for carrying on its business; but any mining or manufacturing company may carry the products of its mines and manufactories on its railroad or canal not exceeding fifty miles in length.

Officers, &c., of companies not to engage in transportation business.
Section 6. No president, director, officer, agent or employee of any railroad or canal company shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of material or supplies to such company, or in the business of transportation as a common carrier of freight or passengers over the works owned, leased, controlled or worked by such company.

No discrimination in charges to transporters.
Section 7. No discrimination in charges or facilities for transportation shall be made between transportation companies and individuals, or in favor of either, by abatement, drawback or otherwise, and no railroad or canal company, or any lessee, manager or employee thereof, shall make any preferences in furnishing cars or motive power.

Free passes on railroads prohibited.
Section 8. No railroad, railway or other transportation company shall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person except officers or employees of the company.

Amendment of November 6, 1923

Passenger railroads not be constructed without consent of municipal authorities.
Section 9. No street passenger railway shall be constructed within the limits of any city, borough or township, without the consent of its local authorities.

Acceptance of this article by corporations.
Section 10. No railroad, canal or other transportation company, in existence at the time of the adoption of this article, shall have the benefit of any future legislation by general or special laws, except on condition of complete acceptance of all the provisions of this article.

Duties of Auditor General as to companies transferred to Secretary of Internal Affairs.
Section 11. The existing powers and duties of the Auditor General in regard to railroads, canals and other transportation companies, except as to their accounts, are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, who shall have a general supervision over them, subject to such regulations and alterations as shall be provided by law; and, in addition to the annual reports now required to be made, said Secretary may require special reports at any time upon any subject relating to the business of said companies from any officer or officers thereof.Section 12. The General Assembly shall enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XVIII
FUTURE AMENDMENTS

Amendments may be proposed by Legislature. Amendment not to be submitted oftener than once in five years.
Section 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives; and, if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same to be published, three months before the next general election, in at least two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers shall be published; and if, in the General Assembly next afterwards chosen, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same again to be published in the manner aforesaid; and such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the State in such manner, and at such time at least three months after being so agreed to by the two Houses, as the General Assembly shall prescribe; and, if such amendment or amendments shall be approved by a majority of those voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the Constitution; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once in five years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separatel