SENATE, No. 990

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 21, 1996

 

 

By Senator CASEY

 

 

An Act requiring that certain elections be conducted by mail and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

    1. Notwithstanding any other law, regulation or rule to the contrary, a school election, the primary election for the general election and the general election shall be conducted by mail pursuant to the provisions of this act.

 

    2. The county clerk shall:

    a. publish, in advance of the election and pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State, official notice that the election shall be conducted by mail together with such other information regarding the conduct of the election as shall be deemed necessary by the Secretary of State;

    b. mail a ballot, including an outer envelope and an inner envelope substantially similar to the envelopes provided for absentee ballots pursuant to section 16 of P.L.1953, c.211 (C.19:57-16), not sooner than the 20th day prior to the day of the election nor later than the 14th day prior to the day of the election, to each person registered to vote on or before the 29th day prior to the day of the election;

    c. designate the county clerk's office or one or more locations within the county as the place or places to obtain a replacement ballot pursuant to section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill);

    d. designate, after consultation with the county board of elections and pursuant to criteria established by the Secretary of State, places within the county that shall be available for the deposit of ballots for the election;

    e. make a ballot available at the office of the county clerk or at one or more other locations within the county to each person who has been a resident of the county in which the person seeks to register and vote at least 30 days prior to the day of the election and has moved to another location within the county after that 30th day and prior to the day of the election;

    f. suspend distribution to each registered voter in the county of samples of the official ballot of any school election, primary election for the general election or general election, except that nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the inclusion with each ballot of such information about the completion of the ballot as deemed necessary by the Secretary of State;

    g. make certain that all qualified voters requesting an absentee ballot after the 40th day prior to the day of an election and on or before the 21st day prior to the day of an election receive such ballots, and provide that any voter requesting an absentee ballot after the 20th day prior to the day of an election and on or before the seventh day prior to the date of the election shall receive a ballot authorized pursuant to this section; and

    h. establish, after consultation with the county board of elections and in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the Secretary of State, the time by which all ballots must be received by the board on the day of an election to be considered valid and counted.

 

    3. The county board of elections shall:

    a. consult with the county clerk with respect to the conduct of the election, as provided for in subsections d. and h. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill);

    b. receive all ballots for the election returned by United States mail and collect all ballots for the election deposited in designated places of deposit prior to the time established for the closing of the polls;

    c. verify the signature of the voter on the outer envelope of each ballot returned by comparing it with the signature on that person's voter registration form, in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the Secretary of State, and if it is determined that the voter to whom a ballot or a replacement ballot has been issued has voted more than once, not count any ballot by that voter;

    d. remove the inner envelope from the outer envelope of each ballot on the day of the election and proceed with the canvass of such ballots; and

    e. conduct the canvass of the ballots and the certification of the results of the election in accordance with the procedure provided for such actions by Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, as amended and supplemented.

 

    4. A registered voter may obtain a replacement ballot if a ballot has not been received by that person, or if it has been destroyed, spoiled or lost. A registered voter seeking a replacement ballot shall proceed to the office of the county clerk or any other office designated thereby to obtain such a ballot and sign a sworn statement that the ballot was destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received and present the statement to the county clerk prior to the time designated by law for the closing of the polls for that election. The county clerk shall keep a record of each replacement ballot provided.

    Nothing in this section shall prevent a voter seeking a replacement ballot from obtaining such a ballot from the county clerk anytime after ballots have been mailed to registered voters pursuant to subsection b. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill) and the day of the election or from mailing a replacement ballot to the county board of elections prior to the day of the election.

 

    5. Each ballot obtained from the county clerk shall have printed or stamped on it the following statement:

    ANY PERSON WHO, BY USE OF FORCE OR ANY OTHER MEANS, UNDULY INFLUENCES A VOTER TO VOTE IN ANY PARTICULAR MANNER OR TO REFRAIN FROM VOTING IS GUILTY OF A CRIME OF THE FOURTH DEGREE.

 

    6. For a primary election for the general election:

    a. the county clerk shall mail the ballot of a political party to each voter who is registered as being affiliated with the political party as of the 21st day before the day of the primary election; and

    b. a voter who is not affiliated with any political party who wishes to vote in the primary of a political party shall apply to the county clerk in writing for the ballot of the political party in whose primary the voter wishes to vote and the application shall be presented to the clerk through the day of the election.

 

    7. Prior to transmitting a ballot to the county board of elections, a registered voter shall mark it and place it in the inner envelope. The inner envelope shall then be placed in the outer envelope and that envelope shall be signed and certified by the voter pursuant to instructions provided with the ballot. The voter may return the envelopes containing the marked ballot to the county board by United States mail or by depositing it at the office of the county board or any other place of deposit designated for that purpose. If the voter returns the ballot by United States mail, the voter shall provide the postage.

 

    8. For a ballot to be counted, it shall be received by the county board of elections no later than the time established for the closing of the polls for that election, pursuant to subsection h. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

    Nothing in this section shall preclude the board from starting to count the ballots it has received for an election prior to the time designated for the closing of the polls for that election.

 

    9. If received in a timely manner, a ballot shall be counted only if:

    a. the ballot is returned in the inner envelope and the inner envelope is enclosed in the outer envelope;

    b. the envelopes in which it is returned manifest no signs of tampering or improper handling;

    c. the outer envelope is signed by the registered voter to whom the ballot has been issued; and

    d. the signature is verified as provided in subsection c. of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

 

    10. Any ballot and any voter casting a ballot in an election held by mail may be challenged pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the Secretary of State.

 

    11. The Secretary of State shall promulgate, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

    12. Upon the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill), the initial election conducted pursuant to the provisions of that act shall be a school election held no sooner than two years and no later than three years following its enactment. No sooner than one year and no later than two years after that school election, the primary election for the general election held in the county shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of that act. No sooner than two years and no later than three years after that primary election, the general election held in the county shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of that act.

    Nothing in this section shall prevent a county from conducting the school election and the subsequent primary election for the general election or general elections by mail before the time designated for such elections by this section.

 

    13. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill requires that a school election, the primary election for the general election and the general elections be conducted entirely by mail.

    The bill establishes certain procedures for the county clerk to follow prior to the day when the elections are held. These include publishing information about the election prior to the date it is held, mailing a ballot at least 14 days prior to the election to each person registered to vote on or before the 29th day prior to the day of the election and making a replacement ballot available to a voter if that person's ballot has been destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received. Many of these procedures would be pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State.

    The bill also establishes certain procedures for the county board of elections to follow in regard to the elections. These include cooperating with the county clerk to designate places within the county at which ballots may be deposited for an election and establishing the time by which all ballots must be received by the board on the day of an election to be considered valid and counted. Once received, the board would be responsible for the canvass of the ballots in accordance with the procedure provided for such actions in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, as amended and supplemented.

    Finally, the bill provides that the first election held using the procedure would be a school election held no sooner than two years and no later than three years following its enactment. No sooner than one year and no later than two years after that school election, the primary election for the general election held in the county shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of that act. No sooner than two years and no later than three years after that primary election, the general election held in the county shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of that act. The bill would permit a county to conduct a school election and the subsequent primary election for the general election or general elections by mail before the time designated by the bill for such elections to be conducted in that manner.

    This bill is modeled after laws in Oregon that permit voting by mail in certain elections and which enabled that state to hold a primary and general election by mail to elect a United States Senator.

 

 

                            

 

Requires school, primary and general elections to be conducted by mail.