(a) General rule.—

1. (1) For the purpose of registration and voting, no individual shall be deemed to have gained a residence by reason of presence or lost a residence by reason of absence in any of the following circumstances:

   1. (i) Being employed in the service, either civil or military, of this Commonwealth or of the United States.
   2. (ii) Being engaged in the navigation of the waters of this Commonwealth or of the United States or on the high seas.
   3. (iii) Being in an institution at public expense. This subparagraph does not apply to a veteran who resides in a home for disabled and indigent soldiers and sailors maintained by the Commonwealth. Such a veteran may elect to utilize that residence for registration and voting or elect to vote as an absentee elector by the use of an absentee ballot.
2. (2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall preclude any elector eligible under section 1301 (relating to qualifications to register) from establishing the district of residence as the election district of residence pursuant to subsection (b).
3. (3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no individual who is confined in a penal institution shall be deemed a resident of the election district where the institution is located. The individual shall be deemed to reside where the individual was last registered before being confined in the penal institution, or, if there was no registration prior to confinement, the individual shall be deemed to reside at the last known address before confinement.

4. (4) An individual who resides at an institution for the mentally ill or the mentally retarded, if otherwise qualified under section 1301, shall be deemed at the individual's option a resident in one of the following:

   1. (i) The district where the institution is located.
   2. (ii) The district where the individual was last registered to vote before entering the institution. For purposes of this subparagraph, if the individual was not registered before entering the institution, the individual shall be deemed to reside at the last known address before entering the institution.

(b) Rules for determination.— The following apply:

1. (1) That the place shall be considered the residence of an individual in which habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the individual is absent, the individual has the intention of returning.
2. (2) An individual shall not be considered to have lost residence if the individual leaves home and goes into another state or another election district for temporary purposes only, with the intention of returning.
3. (3) An individual shall not be considered to have gained a residence in an election district if the individual comes into that district for temporary purposes only, without the intention of making that election district a permanent place of abode.
4. (4) If an individual removes to another state with the intention of making that state the permanent residence, the individual shall be considered to have lost residence in this Commonwealth.
5. (5) If an individual removes to another state with the intention of remaining there an indefinite time and making that state the place of residence, the individual shall be considered to have lost residence in this Commonwealth, notwithstanding an intention to return at some indefinite future period.
6. (6) If an individual goes into another state and, while there, votes in an election held by that state, the individual shall be considered to have lost residence in this Commonwealth.

7. (7) An individual employed in the service of the Federal Government or of the Commonwealth and required thereby to be absent from the municipality where the individual resided when entering that employment and the spouse of the individual may remain registered in the district where the individual resided immediately prior to entering that employment, and the individual and the spouse shall be enrolled in the political party designated by the individual or spouse without declaring a residence by street and number.

   1. (i) An individual who registers under this paragraph for Commonwealth employment must produce a certificate from the head of the State agency, under the seal of office, setting forth that the individual or the individual's spouse is actually employed in the service of the Commonwealth and setting forth the nature of the employment and the time when the employee first entered the employment. The commission shall retain certificates under this subparagraph.
   2. (ii) The commission shall note on the registration record of each individual registered under this paragraph the fact of Federal or State employment.
   3. (iii) At least once every two years the commission shall verify the employment of the individuals registered under this paragraph at the proper Federal or State office. If an individual is found to be no longer a Federal or State employee, the individual's registration shall be canceled under Chapter 15 (relating to changes in records).