New Jersey-2020-A3610-Introduced

An Act concerning wait times at polling places during a general election.

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

1. a. The Legislature finds and declares:

The right to vote is the foundation upon which the United States of America is rooted;

For far too long, the right to vote was exclusive only to property-owning white men in the United States;

Voting has become a guaranteed and unrestricted right for all citizens of the United States since the passage of the "Civil Rights Act of 1964" and the "Voting Rights Act of 1965";

Today, voting at polling places has become increasingly difficult for certain groups of people in the United States;

According to a study by the University of California, Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Chicago, voters who live in predominantly Black neighborhoods face significantly longer wait times to vote than those who live in predominantly white neighborhoods;

The average American voter spent 19 minutes at a polling place during the 2016 General Election and the average Black voter spent an additional five minutes at a polling place;

Residents of entirely Black neighborhoods were 74 percent more likely to have to wait more than 30 minutes to vote compared to residents of entirely white neighborhoods;

One possible explanation for the increase in wait times for Black voters is the increase in polling place closures following the 2013 decision by the Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder, which ruled Section 5 of the "Voting Rights Act of 1965" unconstitutional;

According to a study conducted by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, at least 1,688 polling places were closed in just seven Southern and Western states once scrutinized under Section 5 of the "Voting Rights Act of 1965," with a loss of 1,173 polling places between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections;

These closures, which overwhelmingly occurred in districts with a predominantly minority community, have limited access to voting for millions of Americans;

The State of New Jersey takes voter suppression extremely seriously and should take every action necessary to study wait times at New Jersey polling places; and

Therefore, it is necessary and urgent that the Secretary of State conduct a study of wait times at polling places and make recommendations based on the results of the study to ensure a fair and equal voting process for all citizens of this State.

b. The Secretary of State shall develop and conduct a study of wait times at polling places on the day of a general election in this State, and make recommendations based on the results of the study. The study shall include a comparison of the wait times experienced by voters representing the different racial, ethnic, and minority groups in this State at a general election. In developing and conducting the study, the Secretary of State shall commission a team of research experts who shall draw upon the best available research methodologies and procedures for measuring wait time disparities at polling places.

c. The Secretary of State shall report the findings and recommendations of the study to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), within six months following the general election at which the study is conducted.

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon submission of the report pursuant to this act.

STATEMENT

This bill directs the Secretary of State to study wait times at polling places during a general election.

A study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Chicago has highlighted the difference in average wait times between white and Black voters. The study also discovered that voters in Black neighborhoods routinely wait 30 minutes longer to vote compared to voters in white neighborhoods. One possible explanation is the number of polling place closures in predominantly Black neighborhoods since the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. This decision ruled Section 5 of the "Voting Rights Act of 1965" unconstitutional and allowed previously scrutinized states to more easily close polling places.

Under the bill, the Secretary of State will study wait times at polling places during a general election and make recommendations based on the results of the study. The study will include a comparison of the wait times experienced by voters representing the different racial, ethnic, and minority groups in this State at a general election. The bill requires the Secretary of State to commission a team of research experts who must draw upon the best available research methods and procedures for measuring wait time disparities at polling places. The Secretary of State will report the findings to the Governor and the Legislature within six months following the general election at which the study is conducted.