Bill Text: NJ A4100 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires automatic recount for local elections with vote difference of 10 votes or less at candidate's request; provides for geographic regions for judges to adjudicate election recounts and contests; establishes certain adjudication and hearing timelines.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-04 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4100 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4100-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman AL BARLAS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires automatic recount for local elections with vote difference of 10 votes or less at candidate's request; provides for geographic regions for judges to adjudicate election recounts and contests; establishes certain adjudication and hearing timelines.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning election recounts and contests, amending R.S.19:28-1, and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:28-1 is amended to read as follows:
19:28-1. a. When any candidate at any election shall have reason to believe that an error has been made in counting the votes of that election, the candidate may, within a period of 3 days after the certification of the results of the election, apply to a judge of the Superior Court assigned to the county wherein such district or districts are located, for a recount of the votes cast at the election in any district or districts.
b. When ten voters at any election shall have reason to believe that an error has been so made in counting the votes upon any public question at any election, such voters may, within a period of 3 days after the certification of the results of the election, apply to a judge of the Superior Court assigned to the county wherein such district or districts are located, for a recount of the votes cast at the election in any district or districts on such public question.
c. When the results of any election for county or municipal office show that the election was decided by a vote differential of 10 votes or less, a candidate may request the appropriate board of elections or boards of elections to conduct an automatic recount of the votes cast at the election in any district or districts. The candidate shall make the recount request within 24 hours after the certification of the results of that election. The recount shall occur not later than three days after the certification of the results of that election. The appropriate board of elections or boards of elections, or persons designated by those boards, shall conduct the automatic recount. The State shall incur the costs of conducting an automatic recount required pursuant to this subsection.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.124, s.5)
2. (New section) a. Notwithstanding any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court may annually assign, not later than the Tuesday after Labor Day, a minimum of three Superior Court judges for each of the following designated geographic regions to hear and adjudicate all election recount and contest matters arising under chapter 28 or chapter 29 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes within each region:
(1) the Northern Region, containing the counties of Union, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Warren, and Sussex;
(2) the Central Region, containing the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset; and
(3) the Southern Region, containing the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Ocean, Camden, Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Cumberland.
b. In creating the regions and determining the number of judges to assign to each region pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the Chief Justice shall take into account any criteria the Chief Justice deems appropriate, including, but not limited to:
(1) the population of each region;
(2) prior election recount and contest volume; and
(3) election year voter turnout.
At the Chief Justice's discretion, a county assigned to a region pursuant to subsection a. of this section may be assigned to a different geographically contiguous region in any given year. Upon issuing the regions, the number of judges, and their names assigned to each region each year, the Chief Justice shall cause this information to be published on the official website of the Judiciary Branch.
c. In hearing and adjudicating election recount and contest matters, a judge assigned to a region shall act individually and not as a panel. If an election recount or contest is filed that arises from one of the counties in a particular region, the next available judge in that region shall be assigned that case. The assignment of election recount and contest cases shall not be limited to a judge in the county of origin, rather to the availability of a judge in the region containing that county to hear the matter immediately.
3. (New section) Notwithstanding any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, all matters related to an election recount or an election contest pursuant to chapter 28 or chapter 29 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, respectively, shall be heard and adjudicated prior to the assumption of office of the elected candidate, or the reorganization of the governing body to which the elected candidate was elected, as the case may be. All pleadings shall be given an initial hearing within 36 hours of an initial filing. All appeals shall be given an initial hearing within 24 hours, or the next business day, of the appeal's filing. As used in this subsection, "business day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or State or federal holiday.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires an automatic recount of the results of any county or municipal election with a vote difference of 10 votes or less, at the request of a candidate. This bill also provides for the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, at the Chief Justice's discretion, to create geographic regions for assigned Superior Court judges to adjudicate election recounts and contests. The bill also establishes certain timelines for the adjudication and initial hearing of election recount and contest cases.
Under current law, election recounts can be requested by a candidate for office or by a group of ten voters at any election. Under current law, the election of any person to any public office or party position, or the approval or disapproval of any public proposition, may be contested by the voters of this State or of any of its political subdivisions affected thereby upon one or more of the stipulated grounds. Election recounts or contests are heard by the appropriate Superior Court judge assigned to the county, or that judge assigned for this purpose by the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case of Statewide matters.
This bill would require an automatic recount, at the request of a candidate, to be conducted when any county or municipal election is decided by a vote differential 10 votes or less. The candidate would be required to make the recount request to the appropriate board or boards of elections within 24 hours after the certification of the election results. The recount would occur not later than three days after the certification of the election results. The appropriate board of elections or boards of elections, or persons designated by the boards, would conduct the automatic recount. The State would incur the costs of conducting an automatic recount.
The bill also provides for the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, at the Chief Justice's discretion, to annually assign, not later than the Tuesday after Labor Day each September, a minimum of three Superior Court judges for each of the following designated regions to hear and adjudicate all election recount and contest matters: (1) the Northern Region, containing the counties of Union, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Warren, and Sussex; (2) the Central Region, containing the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset; and (3) the Southern Region, containing the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Ocean, Camden, Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Cumberland. The bill also provides for the Chief Justice to take into account any criteria the Chief Justice deems appropriate in creating the regions and determining the number of judges for each region, including, but not limited to, population, historical recount volume, and voter turnout. However, the bill allows for flexibility at the Chief Justice's discretion. Under the bill, the regions, the number of judges, and their names assigned to each region, would be published annually on the official website of the Judiciary Branch.
The bill further provides that, in hearing and adjudicating election recount and contest matters, a judge assigned to a region would act individually and not as a panel. If an election recount or contest is filed in any one of the counties in a particular region, the next available judge in that region would be assigned that case. The assignment of election recount and contest cases would not be limited to a judge in the county of origin, rather to the availability of a judge in the region containing that county to hear the matter immediately.
Under the bill, all matters related to a recount or contest would be heard and adjudicated prior to the assumption of office of the elected candidate, or the reorganization of the governing body to which the elected candidate was elected, as the case may be. In addition, all pleadings would be given an initial hearing within 36 hours of an initial filing, and all appeals would be given an initial hearing within 24 hours, or the next business day, of the appeal's filing.
