Bill Text: NJ A1188 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for excused absences for public school students involved in election activities on day of general election under certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-27 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A1188 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A1188-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for excused absences for public school students involved in election activities on day of general election under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning excused absences from public school and amending P.L.2001, c.271, R.S.19:15-8, and R.S.19:34-6.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2001, c.271 (C.18A:36-33) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any pupil of any public school who serves as a member of a district board of election on the day of any election, pursuant to R.S.19:6-1 et seq., and attends required instructional sessions related to such membership, pursuant to R.S.19:50-1 et seq., shall have his or her absence for those reasons recorded as excused absences on that pupil's attendance record or on that of any group or class of which the pupil is a member upon the presentation of such documentation as the superintendent or administrative principal, as the case may be, deems necessary to prove the pupil served as a member of a district board on the day of an election or attended required instructional sessions.
b. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any pupil over the age of 14 years of any public school shall have his absence on the day of the general election in this State recorded as an excused absence on that pupil's attendance record, or on that of any group or class of which the pupil is a member, upon the presentation of documentation proving the pupil served as a volunteer for election-related activity on the day of the general election. The documentation shall be in such form and shall contain such information as the superintendent or administrative principal, as the case may be, shall deem to be necessary. The information in the documentation shall include, but need not be limited to, a signature of a person over the age of 18 years who supervised the pupil's activity, the organizers of the activity, a brief description of the nature of the activity, the time during which the pupil took part in the activity, and a certification that the activity was not undertaken directly or indirectly for the benefit of one or more political parties to the exclusion of other political parties. The board of education may deny such excused absences for pupils whose academic achievement is below a level set by the board of education for this purpose.
As used in this subsection, "election-related activity" means:
observing the polling or
canvassing process, participating in simulated voting, assisting in the
transportation of voters to polling places, or participating in any other
activity that has been
specifically approved in advance by the board of education governing that
public school,
as part of a group or a program organized by a recognized nonprofit organization, by a board of education, or by educators within the public educational system of this State,
not undertaken directly or indirectly for the benefit or under the auspices of one or more political parties to the exclusion of other political parties, and
for which the pupil volunteered and received compensation or reimbursement for expenses no greater than $100.
(cf: P.L.2001, c.271, s.1)
2. R.S.19:15-8 is amended to read as follows:
19:15-8. a. No person shall be allowed or permitted to be present in the polling place or polling room during the progress of the election except the officers connected with the election, persons connected with the operation of a simulated election for minors as described in subsection b. of this section, the several candidates, the duly authorized challengers, such voters as are present for the purpose of voting and their dependent children, minors present for the purpose of voting in a simulated election, public school pupils pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.2001, c.271 (C.18A:36-33), and such officers as may be duly detailed to be present, pursuant to this title, for preserving the peace or enforcing the provisions hereof.
b. A county board of elections may authorize a simulated election for minors at a polling place, provided the simulated election does not interfere with the orderly conduct of the official voting process.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.173, s.1)
3. R.S.19:34-6 is amended to read as follows:
19:34-6. a. If a person shall on election day tamper, deface or interfere with any polling booth or obstruct the entrance to any polling place, or obstruct or interfere with any voter, or loiter in or near the polling place, or, with the purpose to obstruct or interfere with any voter or to unduly delay other voters from voting, spend an inordinate amount of time in the polling booth, or do any electioneering within any polling place or within one hundred feet thereof, he shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
b. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a minor from entering a polling place on the day of an election to vote in a simulated election at that polling place, or persons from supervising or working at a polling place in a simulated election in which minors vote, provided that the county board of elections has determined that the polling place can accommodate simulated election activities without interfering with the orderly conduct of the official voting process. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the presence of public school pupils at a polling place on the day of an election pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.2001, c.271 (C.18A:36-33).
(cf: P.L.2005, c.154, s.26.)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would permit any pupil over the age of 14 years of any public school to take an excused absence from school on the day of the general election in this State upon the presentation of documentation proving that the pupil served as a volunteer for election-related activity on the day of the general election. This bill defines "election-related activity" to mean:
observing the polling or canvassing process, participating in simulated voting, assisting in the transportation of voters to polling places, or participating in any other activity that has been specifically approved in advance by the board of education governing that public school,
as part of a group or a program organized by a recognized nonprofit organization, by a board of education, or by educators within the public educational system of this State,
not undertaken directly or indirectly for the benefit or under the auspices of one or more political parties to the exclusion of other political parties, and
for which the pupil volunteered and received compensation or reimbursement for expenses no greater than $100.
The absence would be granted upon submission of documentation which would include a signature of a person over the age of 18 years who supervised the pupil's activity, the organizers of the activity, a brief description of the nature of the activity, the time during which the pupil took part in the activity, and a certification that the activity was not undertaken directly or indirectly for the benefit of one or more political parties to the exclusion of other political parties. The board of education may deny such excused absences for pupils whose academic achievement is below a level set by the board of education for this purpose.
The purpose of this legislation is to promote participation in the election process among young people who are just a few years from becoming eligible to vote, thus fostering their understanding of the importance of voting, of their rights as citizens, and of their civic responsibility.
