Bill Text: NJ A1947 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires county elections board give notice by Internet posting or mail when polling place location changes unexpectedly before election; requires board develop plan for polling place change notification.**
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-22 - Assembly Floor Amendment Passed (Conaway) [A1947 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A1947-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman GILBERT "WHIP" L. WILSON
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires county board of elections provide notice to voters by mail and on county's Internet site when change in polling place location for any election district occurs within 60 days of any election.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning a change in polling place location for any election district and amending R.S.19:8-2.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:8-2 is amended to read as follows:
19:8-2. The clerk of every municipality, on or before April 1 shall certify to the county board of every county wherein such municipality is located a suggested list of places in the municipality suitable for polling places. The county board shall select the polling places for the election districts in the municipalities of the county for all elections in the municipalities thereof, including all commission government elections in the county. The county boards shall not be obliged to select the polling places so suggested by the municipal clerks, but may choose others where they may deem it expedient. Preference in locations shall be given to schools and public buildings where space shall be made available by the authorities in charge, upon request, if same can be done without detrimental interruption of school or the usual public services thereof, and for which the authority in charge shall be reimbursed, by agreement, for expenses of light, janitorial and other attending services arising from such use. Each polling place selected shall be accessible to individuals with disabilities and the elderly. A polling place shall be considered accessible if it is in compliance with the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" (42 U.S.C. s. 12101 et seq.). In no case shall the authorities in charge of a public school or other public building deny the request of the county board for the use, as a polling place, of any building they own or lease.
Where the county board shall fail to agree as to the selection of the polling place or places for any election district, within five days of an election, the county clerk shall select and designate the polling place or places in any such election district.
The county board may select a polling place other than a schoolhouse or public building outside of the district but such polling place shall not be located more than 1,000 feet distant from the boundary line of the district. The Secretary of State may, however, permit a polling place to be more than 1,000 feet distant from the boundary line of the district if there is no suitable polling place accessible to individuals with disabilities and the elderly within the district or 1,000 feet distant from the boundary line of the district.
Whenever possible, the county board shall contact the managers or owners of commercial or private buildings that the board deems suitable to use as polling places, and are in or near an election district lacking an accessible polling place, to determine whether a portion of such a building may be used as a polling place on the day of an election. Reimbursement for the use of a portion of such a building shall be the same as provided by this section for schools and public buildings.
Neither the owner nor operator of a facility designated as a polling place by the county board is permitted or authorized to relocate the polling place room in the building without the express prior approval of the board.
When the location of a polling place for any election district is changed to another location within 60 days next preceding any election, the county board of the county in which the affected voters reside shall direct and cause a notice of such change to be sent by mail to the residence of each affected voter. The county board shall also direct and cause a notice of such change to be posted and displayed prominently on the county's Internet site. The county board shall arrange for the assignment of a police officer or other fully competent person to be posted outside the previous polling place location during all polling place hours on the day of any election to provide guidance to voters concerning the change in polling place location.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.134, s.11)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require a county board of elections to provide notice by mail to each voter in an election district that is affected by a change in a polling place location in the district that occurs within 60 days of the election. The bill pertains to all elections in the municipalities of that county, including all commission government elections in the county. The bill also requires the board to post and display prominently on the county's Internet site such change in the polling place location. In addition, the bill requires the county board to arrange for the assignment of a police officer or other fully competent person to be posted outside the previous polling place to provide guidance to voters concerning the change in polling place location on the day of any election.
Under current law, the county board of elections in each county selects the polling places for the election districts in the municipalities of the county for all elections. The board must publish a notice in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation throughout the county. The notice must include polling place locations and be published once during the 30 days preceding the closing date for the registration books for the primary and general elections (21 days prior to the election) and once during the calendar week preceding the day of the primary and general elections.
