S507

An Act providing for audits of the results of elections and supplementing chapter 61 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the Attorney General shall appoint each year an independent audit team. It shall conduct random hand counts of the voter-verified paper records in at least two percent of the election districts where elections are held for federal or State office, including the offices of Governor and member of the Legislature, and for county and municipal offices selected by the Attorney General. Hand counts shall also be made of the results of at least one voting machine in one election district in each county where elections occur each year. The number and composition of the audit team shall be at the discretion of the Attorney General, except that at least one member shall have verifiable expertise in the field of statistics.

b. The independent audit team shall conduct an audit of the results of an election in accordance with the following procedures.

(1) No later than 24 hours after the final vote count after an election, the Attorney General shall determine and then announce publicly the districts in the State in which audits shall be conducted.

(2) With respect to votes cast at the election district on the date of an election other than by provisional ballot, the independent audit team shall count by hand the voter-verified paper records and compare those records with the count of such votes announced by the county boards of elections.

(3) With respect to votes cast other than at the election district on the date of the election, or votes cast by provisional ballot on the date of the election that are certified and counted by the county board of elections on or after the election, including votes cast by military service voters and overseas federal election voters, the independent audit team shall count by hand the applicable voter-verified paper records and compare those records with the count of such votes announced by the county boards of elections.

(4) The selection of the election districts and county and municipal elections to be audited shall be made by the Attorney General on a random basis using a uniform distribution in which all districts and county and municipal elections have an equal chance of being selected, in accordance with such procedures as the Attorney General deems appropriate, except that at least one voting machine in one district shall be selected for an audit in each county in the State.

(5) As soon as practicable after the completion of an audit conducted pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Attorney General shall announce publicly and publish the results of the audit and shall include in the announcement a comparison of the results of the election in the districts, as determined by the independent audit team performing the audit, and the final vote count in the districts as announced by the county boards of elections.

(6) No county shall certify the results of any election that is subject to an audit performed pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill) prior to the competition of the audit and the announcement and publication of the results thereof as required by paragraph 5 of this subsection, except to the extent necessary to permit the State to make a final determination with respect to any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of its electors for President or Vice President of the United States prior to the deadline established in section 6, Title 3 of the United States Code.

(7) If the Attorney General determines that any of the hand counts conducted under P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill) show cause for concern about the accuracy of the results of any election in the State, or in a county or a municipality, or with respect to a particular election, the independent audit team may conduct hand counts under this act in such additional election districts as the Attorney General considers appropriate to resolve any such concerns.

2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2008.

STATEMENT

The purpose of this bill is to establish a procedure for the mandatory audit of election results each year in randomly selected voting districts in the State. The audit would be conducted by an audit team appointed by the Attorney General, who would also have discretion as to the number and composition of such a team but it must include at least one member who has verifiable expertise in the field of statistics. It will conduct random hand counts of the voter-verified paper records in at least two percent of the election districts where elections are held for federal or State offices, including the offices of Governor and member of the Legislature, and for county and municipal offices selected by the Attorney General. Hand counts will also be made of the results of at least one voting machine in one election district in each county where elections occur each year.

Under the bill, the Attorney General will determine and then announce publicly the districts in the State in which audits will be conducted within 24 hours after the final vote count for an election. Votes cast by electronic voting machines, provisional ballots absentee ballots and military and overseas federal election voters are to be included in the audit. If the Attorney General determines that any of the hand counts show cause for concern about the accuracy of the results of any election, the independent audit team may conduct hand counts in such additional election districts as the Attorney General considers appropriate to resolve any such concerns.

The bill takes effect on January 1, 2008, which is the date by which voter-verified paper records must be operational on electronic voting machines used in this State, pursuant to P.L.2005, c.137.