[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 1996
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
209th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 7, 2000
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RICK MERKT
District 25 (Morris)
Assemblyman ALAN M. AUGUSTINE
District 22 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Crecco, Murphy, Assemblymen Geist, T. Smith, Talarico, Carroll, DeCroce, Bateman, Biondi and Bagger
SYNOPSIS
Permits person registering to vote to declare political affiliation on voter registration form.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly State Government Committee on March 22, 2001, with amendments.
An Act concerning political party affiliation, amending R.S.19:23-45, P.L.1976, c.16 and P.L.1974, c.30, and supplementing chapter 31 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:23-45 is amended to read as follows:
19:23-45. No voter shall be allowed to vote at the primary election unless his name appears in the signature copy register.
A voter who votes in a primary election of a political party, or who signs and files with the municipal clerk or the county commissioner of registration a declaration that he desires to vote in the primary election of a political party, or who indicates on a voter registration form the voter's choice of political party affiliation and submits the form to the commissioner of registration of the county wherein the voter resides, the employees or agents of a public agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 15 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.3), or a voter registration agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 26 of P.L.1994, c.182 (C.19:31-6.11), or the Attorney General, shall be deemed to be a member of that party until he submits a new voter registration form indicating thereon a different choice of political party affiliation, or the voter signs and files with the municipal clerk or the commissioner of registration a declaration that he desires to vote in the primary election of another political party at which time he shall be deemed to be a member of such other political party. The [Secretary of State] Attorney General shall cause to be prepared political party affiliation declaration forms and shall provide such forms to the commissioners of registration of the several counties and to the clerks of the municipalities within such counties.
No voter, except a newly registered voter at the first primary at which he is eligible to vote[,] or a voter who has not previously voted in a primary election, may vote in a primary election of a political party unless he was deemed to be a member of that party on the [fiftieth] 50th day next preceding such primary election.
A member of the county committee of a political party and a public official or public employee holding any office or public employment to which he has been elected or appointed as a member of a political party shall be deemed a member of such political party.
Any person voting in the primary ballot box of any political party in any primary election in contravention of the election law shall be guilty of a [misdemeanor] crime of the fourth degree, and any person who aids or assists any such person in such violation by means of public proclamation or order, or by means of any public or private direction or suggestions, or by means of any help or assistance or cooperation, shall likewise be guilty of a [misdemeanor] crime of the fourth degree.
(cf: P.L.1977, c.97, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1976, c.16 (C.19:23-45.1) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. The county commissioner of registration in each of the several counties[,] shall cause a notice to be published in each municipality of their respective counties in a newspaper or newspapers circulating therein. The notice to be so published shall be published once during each of the [2] two calendar weeks next preceding the week in which the [fiftieth] 50th day next preceding the primary election of a political party occurs.
b. The notice required to be published by the preceding paragraph shall inform the reader thereof that no voter, except a newly registered voter at the first primary at which he is eligible to vote[,] or a voter who has not previously voted in a primary election may vote in a primary election of a political party unless he was deemed to be a member of that party on the [fiftieth] 50th day next preceding such primary election. It shall further inform the reader thereof that a voter who votes in the primary election of a political party, or who signs and files with the municipal clerk or the county commissioner of registration a declaration that he desires to vote in the primary election of a political party, or who indicates on a voter registration form the voter's choice of political party affiliation and submits the form to the commissioner of registration of the county wherein the voter resides, the employees or agents of a public agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 15 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.3) or a voter registration agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 26 of P.L.1994, c.182 (C.19:31-6.11) or the Attorney General, shall be deemed to be a member of that party until he submits a new voter registration form indicating thereon a different choice of political party affiliation, or the voter signs and files with the municipal clerk or the commissioner of registration a declaration that he desires to vote in the primary election of another political party at which time he shall be deemed to be a member of such other political party. The notice shall also state the time and location where a person may obtain political party affiliation declaration forms or voter registration forms.
(cf: P.L.1977, c.97, s.2)
3. Section 16 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.4) is amended to read as follows:
16. a. The [Secretary of State] Attorney General shall cause to be prepared and shall provide to each county commissioner of registration registration forms of size and weight suitable for mailing, which shall require the information required by R.S.19:31-3 in substantially the following form:
VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION
Print clearly in ink. Use ballpoint pen or marker.
(1) This form is being used as (check one):
[] New registration
[] Political party affiliation change
[] Address change
[] Name change
(2) Name:.....................................................
Last First Middle
(3) Street Address where you live:
.........................................................
Street Address Apt. No.
.........................................................
(4) City or Town County Zip Code
(5) Address Where You Receive Your Mail (if different from above):
............................................................
(6) Date of Birth:
......................................................
Month Day Year
(7) Telephone Number (optional) ......................
(8) Name and address of Your Last Voter Registration
............................................................
............................................................
............................................................
(9) Political Party Affiliation (Optional):
1[ ]
[] Republican
[] Democrat
[] Unaffiliated1
[(9)] (10) Declaration - I swear or affirm that:
I am a U.S. citizen
I live at the above address
I will be at least 18 years old on or before the day of the next election
I am not on parole, probation or serving sentence due to a conviction for an indictable offense under any federal or State laws
I UNDERSTAND THAT ANY FALSE OR FRAUDULENT REGISTRATION MAY SUBJECT ME TO A FINE OF UP TO $1,000.00, IMPRISONMENT UP TO FIVE YEARS, OR BOTH PURSUANT TO R.S.19:34-1.
...............................................................................................
Signature or mark of the registrant Date
[(10)] (11) If applicant is unable to complete this form, print name and address of individual who completed this form.
...................................................
Name
...................................................
address
In addition, the form may include notice to the applicant of information and options relating to the registration and voting process, including but not limited to notice of qualifications required of a registered voter; notice of the final day by which a person must be registered to be eligible to vote in an election; a place at which the applicant may indicate availability for service as a member of the district board of elections; [and] a place at which the applicant may indicate a desire to receive information concerning absentee voting; and that use of the application to indicate a change in political party affiliation permits the voter to vote in the primary election of a political party other than the political party in which the voter was affiliated previously only if the voter registration form with the change of political party affiliation is filed prior to the 50th day next preceding the primary election.
b. The reverse side of the registration form shall bear the address of the [Secretary of State] Attorney General or the commissioner of registration to whom such form is supplied, and a United States postal permit the charges upon which shall be paid by the State.
c. The [Secretary of State] Attorney General shall cause to be prepared registration forms of the size, weight and form described in subsection a. of this section in both the English and Spanish language and shall provide such forms to each commissioner of registration of any county in which there is at least one election district in which bilingual sample ballots must be provided pursuant to R.S.19:14-21, R.S.19:49-4 or section 2 of P.L.1965, c.29 (C.19:23-22.4).
d. The commissioner of registration shall furnish such registration forms upon request in person to any person or organization in such reasonable quantities as such person or organization shall request. The commissioner shall furnish no fewer than two such forms to any person upon request by mail or by telephone.
e. Each such registration form shall have annexed thereto instructions specifying the manner and method of registration and stating the qualifications for an eligible voter.
f. The [Secretary of State] Attorney General shall also furnish such registration forms and such instructions to the Director of the Division of Worker's Compensation, the Director of the Division of Employment Services, and the Director of the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance in the Department of Labor; to the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury; to the Executive Director of the New Jersey Transit Corporation; to the appropriate administrative officer of any other public agency, as defined by subsection a. of section 15 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.3); to the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs; and to the chief administrative officer of any voter registration agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 26 of P.L.1994, c.182 (C.19:31-6.11).
g. All registration forms received by the [Secretary of State] Attorney General in the mail or forwarded to the [Secretary of State] same shall be forwarded to the commissioner of registration in the county of the registrant.
h. An application to register to vote received from the Division of Motor Vehicles or a voter registration agency, as defined in subsection a. of section 26 of P.L.1994, c.182 (C.19:31-6.11), shall be deemed to have been timely made for the purpose of qualifying an eligible applicant as registered to vote in an election if the date on which the division or agency shall have received that document in completed form, as indicated in the lower right hand corner of the form, was not later than the 29th day preceding that election.
(cf: P.L.1994, c.182, s.7)
4. (New section) If, when submitting a voter registration form for any reason, a registrant declares thereon his or her political party affiliation and in so doing declares an affiliation with a political party other than the political party with which that person was affiliated previously, the registrant shall be ineligible to vote in the next succeeding primary election unless he or she has made the declaration of affiliation with the political party specified in the latest voter registration form no later than the 50th day next preceding such primary election.
5. This act shall take effect on January 1 following enactment.