Bill Text: NJ A4591 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Imposes certain requirements on use of public school as polling place on day of election.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-10-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A4591 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4591-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman BETTYLOU DECROCE
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Imposes certain requirements on use of public school as polling place on day of election.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the use of public schools as polling places and supplementing chapter 36 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A polling place may be located in a public school on the day of a general or primary election only when the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) the board of education of the school district shall not hold classes for students or teachers in the school on the day of the election;
(2) school district administrators shall be working on the day of the election;
(3) voting shall take place in a room of the school that is accessible from the outside with all other areas of the school closed off to the general public;
(4) a Class Three special law enforcement officer or a safe schools resource officer shall be present at the school during the hours that voting takes place; and
(5) the chief of police of the municipality in which the school is located, or the Superintendent of State Police if the municipality does not have a police department, shall provide on-duty officers to patrol the parking areas for the election beginning one hour before the polls open and until one hour after the polls close.
b. Whenever a public school serves as a polling place on the day of an election, the board of education, in consultation with the Department of Education, shall ensure that the students who attend the school do not have to make up the day of attendance that was lost due to the election.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill imposes certain conditions under which a public school may be used as a polling place on the day of a primary or general election. Under the bill, a public school may serve as a polling place only when the following requirements are met: (1) the board of education must not hold classes for students or teachers in the school on the day of the election; (2) school district administrators must be working on the day of the election; (3) voting must take place in a room of the school that is accessible from the outside, with all other areas of the school closed off to the general public; (4) a Class Three special law enforcement officer or a safe schools resource officer must be present at the school during the hours that voting takes place; and (5) the chief of police of the municipality in which the school is located or the Superintendent of State Police must provide on-duty officers to patrol the election parking areas beginning one hour before the polls open and until one hour after the polls close. The bill directs the board of education, in consultation with the Department of Education, to ensure that students who attend the school do not have to make up the day of attendance that was lost due to the election.
The use of schools and other public community buildings as polling places provides taxpayers and municipalities with a cost savings benefit, as they do not have to pay private entities for the use of their buildings.
