Bill Text: NJ A3854 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires board of elections to use voter's signature on certificate of mail-in voter to create signature record in Statewide Voter Registration System.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A3854 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A3854-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN ARMATO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Mazzeo
SYNOPSIS
Requires board of elections to use voter's signature on certificate of mail-in voter to create signature record in Statewide Voter Registration System.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the signature record of voters who vote by mail in all general elections and amending P.L.2005, c.145 and P.L.2009, c.79.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2005, c.145 (C.19:31-31) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. There shall be established in the Department of State a single Statewide voter registration system, as required pursuant to section 303 of the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002," Pub.L.107-252 (42 U.S.C. s.15483). The principal computer components of the system shall be under the direct control of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall be responsible for creating the network necessary to maintain the system and providing the computer software, hardware and security necessary to ensure that the system is accessible only to those executive departments and State agencies so designated by the Secretary of State, each county commissioner of registration, each county and municipal clerk, and individuals under certain circumstances, as provided for by this section. The system shall be the official State repository for voter registration information for every legally registered voter in this State, and shall serve as the official voter registration system for the conduct of all elections in the State.
b. The Statewide voter registration system shall include, but not be limited to, the following features:
(1) the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State;
(2) the ability to assign a unique identifier to each legally registered voter in the State;
(3) interactivity among appropriate State agencies so designated by the Secretary of State, each county commissioner of registration, each county board of elections, and each county clerk such that these entities shall have immediate electronic access to all or selected records in the system, as determined by the Secretary of State, to receive or transmit all or selected files in the system and to print or review all or selected files in the system;
(4) the ability to permit any county commissioner of registration to enter voter registration information on an expedited basis at the time the information is provided thereto and to permit the Secretary of State to provide technical support to do so whenever needed;
(5) the ability to permit each municipal clerk to view or print information in the system;
(6) the ability to permit an individual, by July 1, 2006, to verify via the Internet whether that individual, and only that individual, is included in the system as a legally registered voter, whether the information pertaining to that individual required by subsection c. of this section is correct, and if not, a means to notify the pertinent county commissioner of registration of the corrections that must be made and to so verify in a way that does not give one individual access to the information required by subsection c. of this section for any other individual;
(7) a Statewide street address index and map in electronic form that can accurately identify the location of every legally registered voter in this State;
(8) the ability to record and monitor all requests for mail-in ballots; to enable the county clerk to verify the identity and signature of each person requesting a mail-in ballot; to record the name and address of each voter determined to be eligible to receive a mail-in ballot for a particular election and to note when a mail-in ballot has been transmitted to that voter by mail or hand delivery; and to make such information available to the Secretary of State so that a voter can be notified whether the application for such a ballot was accepted or rejected, and the reason for the rejection, using the free-access system established by section 5 of P.L.2004, c.88 (C.19:61-5); and
(9) any other functions required pursuant to Pub.L.107-252 (42 U.S.C. s.15301 et seq.), or Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or that may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of State.
c. The Statewide voter registration system shall include, but not be limited to, the following information for every legally registered voter in this State:
(1) last, first and middle name;
(2) street address at time of registration or rural route, box number or apartment number, if any;
(3) city or municipality, and zip code;
(4) date of birth;
(5) telephone number and e-mail address, if provided on voter registration form;
(6) previous name or address if individual re-registered due to change of name or address;
(7) ward and election district number, if either is available;
(8) (a) current and valid New Jersey driver's license number; or
(b) if the registrant has not been issued a New Jersey driver's license number, the last four digits of the registrant's social security number; or
(c) unique identifying number for any individual who has not been issued the information sought in subparagraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph;
(9) notation that a copy of one of the following documents has been submitted with the voter registration application, if required: current and valid photo identification card; a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, pay check or any other government document showing the registrant's name and current address;
(10) the method by which the individual registered and whether that person needs to provide additional identification information to vote using a voting machine instead of a provisional ballot;
(11) political party affiliation, if designated;
(12) digitalized signature and, if the voter is authorized to vote by mail-in ballot in all general elections, the digitalized signature obtained from each of the voter's certificate of mail-in voter required to be submitted with the voted ballot pursuant to subsection a. of section 13 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-13);
(13) date of registration or re-registration;
(14) name and street address of the individual assisting in the completion of the form, if the applicant for registration is unable to do so;
(15) voting participation record for ten-year period; and
(16) any other information required pursuant to Pub.L.107-252 (42 U.S.C. s.15301 et seq.), or Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or that the Secretary of State determines is necessary to assess the eligibility of an individual to be registered to vote and to vote in this State.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.287, s.2)
2. Section 23 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-23) is amended to read as follows:
23. a. As soon as practicable after each election, the board of elections shall mark in the Statewide voter registration system and all duplicate voting records to show that mail-in ballots were delivered or forwarded to the respective registered voters. For each mail-in ballot that has been voted, received and counted, the board of elections shall also, by reference to the certificates removed from the inner envelopes of such ballots, place the word "Voted" in the space provided in the Statewide voter registration system and duplicate voting record for recording the ballot number of the voter's ballot in the election. In the case of the primary election for the general election, the board shall also cause to be noted in the proper space of the Statewide voter registration system or other record of voting form the first three letters of the name of the political party primary in which such ballot was voted. The record contained in the Statewide voter registration system and of voting forms in the original permanent registration binders shall be conformed to the foregoing entries in the duplicate forms.
b. In addition to the information required to be entered into the Statewide voter registration system under subsection a. of this section from the mail-in voter certificate required to be submitted by the voter with the general election voted ballot pursuant to subsection a. of section 13 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-13), and only with respect to each voter who is approved to vote by mail-in ballot in all general elections, the board of elections shall digitalize and enter into the system the voter's signature from the certificate. The record of digitalized signatures required to be created pursuant to this subsection shall serve as the basis for comparison of the signature of a mail-in voter approved to vote by mail in all general elections.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.134, s.57)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, a voter who is approved to vote by mail may select to do so in all general elections indefinitely. When a voter votes by mail, the voter must sign a certificate that is attached to the inner envelope of the voted ballot. By signing the certificate, and subject to penalties for fraudulent voting, the voter certifies that he or she applied for the ballot and completed the ballot and certificate in secret or received assistance from a family member. Boards of election currently enter into the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS) certain information from the mail-in voter certificates, including that the voter has voted and, if a primary election, the political party primary in which the ballot was voted.
This bill would require boards of election to enter into the SVRS the digitalized signature from the voter's certificate of each voter who is approved to vote by mail in all general elections. Under the bill, the record of digitalized signatures would serve as the basis for comparison of the signature of a mail-in voter approved to vote by mail in all general elections.
The purpose of the bill is to establish a record of signatures for each mail-in voter who is approved to vote by mail in all general elections. Under current law, once such voters file a vote-by-mail application, they do not have to reapply and may vote by mail in all general elections indefinitely. In the meantime, the signature of such voters may change over time. Only such voters who do not vote by mail in four consecutive general elections are required to reapply in order to continue to vote by mail, thereby updating their signature. This bill would establish a record of signatures for voters who are approved to vote by mail in all general elections.
