Bill Text: NJ A5453 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs Secretary of State to establish election incident reporting and complaint database; requires certain telephone numbers be provided with voter instructions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5453 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5453-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GERARD SCHARFENBERGER
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Directs Secretary of State to establish election incident reporting and complaint database; requires certain telephone numbers be provided with voter instructions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning an election incident reporting and complaint database, and amending P.L.2005, c.149 and P.L.2009, c.79 and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statues.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. The Secretary of State shall establish an election incident reporting and complaint database to document civil rights violations, voter fraud, or other incidents or complaints related to the conduct of an election in this State. In real time during the conduct of an election, the Secretary of State shall compile any incidents or complaints submitted to the Department of State or to county election officials in a manner and form the secretary deems appropriate.
b. At a minimum, the reported incidents or complaints shall be categorized by the following:
(1) the location, if any, and date of the incident or complaint;
(2) the type of incident or complaint; and
(3) the action, if any, taken in response to the incident or complaint.
The Secretary of State shall provide the complied information to the appropriate officials, including, but not limited to, the New Jersey Attorney General and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in a manner and form consistent with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statues and applicable federal law.
c. Not later than 30 days following the date of the closing of the polls, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a report detailing the total number of incidents and complaints during the conduct of that election, including the action, if any, taken in response to an incident or complaint. The Secretary of State shall also make this report available to the public on the department's Internet site in an easily accessible location.
2. Section 1 of P.L.2005, c.149 (C.19:12-7.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. A county board of elections shall have posted a voter information notice, which shall be referred to as a voter's bill of rights, in a conspicuous location in each polling place before the opening of the polls on the day of any election.
The notice shall contain:
the date of the election and the hours during which polling places will be open;
a statement that sample ballots are available at the polling place for review by the voter;
instruction for the use of the voting machine in that polling place and an explanation of what instructions for voting are available at the polling place for the voter;
instruction for a voter who is voting for the first time;
instruction for a voter who is required to provide identification pursuant to the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002" and R.S.19:15-17 prior to casting a vote;
instruction on how to cast a vote if the voter cannot be present at a polling place on the day of the election;
an explanation of the right of the voter to vote in privacy, regardless of the voter's physical abilities;
an explanation of the right of the voter to a provisional ballot, including in the event that a mail-in ballot has been applied for and not received or not transmitted to the county board of elections before the day of any election, and the other circumstances under which a voter has a right to a provisional ballot;
an explanation of the right of the voter to receive a replacement ballot for a ballot that has been spoiled, destroyed, lost or never received;
an explanation of the right of the voter to ask for and receive assistance in voting;
an explanation of the right of the voter to take a reasonable amount of time in casting a vote on a voting machine;
an explanation of the right of the voter to bring written material into the polling place for the voter's personal use in casting a vote;
instruction on how to contact the appropriate officials if a voter's right to vote or right to otherwise participate in the electoral process has been challenged or violated;
instruction on how to contact the appropriate officials if a voter suspects voter fraud and general information on federal and State laws that prohibit acts of fraud or misrepresentation and the penalties for those acts;
the telephone number of the United States Attorney's Office Election Hotline, the New Jersey Election Hotline, and county election officials of the county;
an explanation of the right of the voter to confidentially discover the status of their ballot using the "Track My Ballot" user portal;
an explanation that "All ballots are counted and your vote remains anonymous;"
an explanation of the right of the voter that if their ballot was rejected, a notice will be issued to the voter within 24 hours after a decision is made to reject the ballot. The voter will have up to 48 hours prior to the date for the final certification of the results of the election to provide a cure for their ballot;
an explanation giving the options for the voter to provide the cure to their rejected ballot;
an explanation that no voters shall be intimidated or otherwise unduly influenced by political insignia while voting. No person shall wear, display, sell, give or provide any political or campaign slogan, badge, button or other insignia associated with any political party or candidate to be worn at or within one hundred feet of the polls or within the polling place or room, on any primary, general or special election day or on any commission government election day, except the badge furnished by the county board as provided by law. This includes any political gear representing the campaign slogans, logos, or depictions or representations of any political party or candidate such as merchandise sold directly from a political party, campaign, candidate, or by third parties and vendors representing any political party or campaign or candidate. A person violating any of these provisions is guilty of a disorderly persons offense and will not be permitted on the premises and can only return to vote after the removal of prohibited political insignia; and
such other statement, instruction or explanation the Secretary of State may deem appropriate to ensure the full and knowledgeable participation of the voter in the process.
The requirement to post this notice in each polling place shall not replace, supersede or void any other requirement set forth in law for the posting of information in each polling place apart from the voter information notice. The poster promoting the use of voting by mail prepared and distributed by the Secretary of State pursuant to R.S.19:8-6 shall be displayed next to or as close as may be possible to the voter information notice.
b. The Secretary of State shall prescribe the form and specific content of the voter information notice, which may be comprised of more than one page. If the notice is comprised of more than one page, each page shall be posted separately. For an election district in which the primary language of 10 percent or more of the registered voters is a language other than English, the Secretary of State shall prescribe an official version of the voter information notice in that other language or languages for use in that election district. The notice shall be posted in English and in the other language or languages in the polling places in each such district. The alternate language shall be determined based on information from the latest federal decennial census.
c. A county board of elections may modify or supplement the voter information notice used in a county or municipality to provide additional information specific to that county or a municipality in that county, provided, however, that any such modification or supplementation shall be submitted to the Secretary of State for prior approval.
d. The voter information notice shall be printed on each sample ballot, to the extent practicable, or if not practicable, information on how to view or obtain a copy of the voter information notice shall be printed on each sample ballot.
e. The voter information notice, including one modified or supplemented pursuant to subsection c. of this section, shall be made accessible on the official Internet site of the State by the Secretary of State and each county board of elections shall ensure that the official Internet site of the county contains a link to that notice.
f. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2020, c.70)
g. The State shall be liable for the costs incurred by local government entities for compliance with this section, and they shall be reimbursed for those costs, upon application, by the State Treasurer.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.71, s.2)
3. Section 12 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-12) is amended to read as follows:
12. Each county clerk shall send, with each mail-in ballot, printed directions for the preparation and transmitting of the ballots as required by this act. The directions shall be printed in such manner and form as the Secretary of State shall require, together with two envelopes of such sizes that one will contain the other. The directions prepared by the [Secretary of State] county clerk shall inform the voter that the status of the voter's mail-in ballot may be checked using the free-access system provided in section 5 of P.L.2004, c.88 (C.19:61-5). The directions prepared by the county clerk shall also include instructions on how to contact the appropriate election officials to report civil rights violations, voter fraud, and other election related matters. The county clerk, at a minimum, shall include the telephone numbers of the United States Attorney's Office Election Hotline, the New Jersey Election Hotline, and the county election officials of that county.
The outer envelope shall be addressed to the county board of elections of the county in which is located the home address of the person to whom the mail-in ballot is sent, as certified by the county clerk. At the discretion of the county clerk, the outer envelope may be a postage paid return envelope. On the outside and front of each outer envelope, there shall be printed or stamped the following:
To protect your vote:
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR ANYONE EXCEPT YOU THE VOTER TO MAIL OR TRANSPORT THIS BALLOT UNLESS THE ENVELOPE IS SEALED AND THE FOLLOWING IS COMPLETED:
Ballot mailed or transported by
(signature of bearer)
(print name of bearer)
(address of bearer)
The reserve side of the outer envelope shall contain the following:
REMINDER
For your vote to count, you must:
1) Vote your ballot and place it in the inner envelope with the attached certificate.
2) Seal the envelope.
3) Place the envelope into the larger envelope addressed to the board of elections and seal that envelope.
4) If another person will be mailing your ballot or bringing it to the board of elections, MAKE CERTAIN THAT PERSON COMPLETES THE "BEARER PORTION" ON THE ENVELOPE ADDRESSED TO THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS BEFORE THE BALLOT IS TAKEN FROM YOU. NO PERSON WHO IS A CANDIDATE IN THE ELECTION FOR WHICH THE VOTER REQUESTS THIS BALLOT IS PERMITTED TO SERVE AS A BEARER. NO PERSON IS PERMITTED TO SERVE AS A BEARER FOR MORE THAN THREE QUALIFIED VOTERS IN AN ELECTION, BUT A PERSON MAY SERVE AS SUCH FOR UP TO FIVE QUALIFIED VOTERS IN AN ELECTION IF THOSE VOTERS ARE IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS RESIDING IN THE SAME HOUSEHOLD AS THE BEARER.
The Secretary of State is authorized to make such changes to the instructions for mail-in ballot materials as the Secretary of State deems necessary or as is mandated by federal or State law.
The inner envelope shall be so designed that it can be sealed after the mail-in ballot has been placed therein and the flap thereof shall be of such length and size as to leave sufficient margin, after sealing, for the printing thereon of the certificate hereinafter described. The flap shall be so arranged that, after the inner envelope has been sealed, the certificate can be contained, with the inner envelope, in the outer envelope, and that the margin containing the certificate can be detached without unsealing the inner envelope.
On the outside of each envelope in which a mail-in ballot is sent to a mail-in voter by the clerk, there shall be printed or stamped the words "Official Mail-In Ballot." In addition, there shall be printed or stamped the following:
To protect your vote:
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR ANYONE EXCEPT YOU THE VOTER TO OPEN, MARK, INSPECT OR SEAL THIS BALLOT.
However, a family member may assist you in doing so.
The reverse side of each inner envelope shall contain the following statement:
A PERSON MAY BE FINED AND IMPRISONED AND MAY ALSO LOSE THE RIGHT TO VOTE UNTIL RESTORED BY LAW if that person attempts to vote fraudulently by mail-in ballot, prevents the voting of a legal voter, certifies falsely any information, interferes with a person's secrecy of voting, tampers with ballots or election documents or helps another person to do so.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.71, s.10)
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Secretary of State to establish an election incident reporting and complaint database and requires certain telephone numbers be provided with voter instructions.
Under the bill, the Secretary of State is required to establish an election incident reporting and complaint database to document civil rights violations, voter fraud, or other incidents or complaints related to the conduct of an election in this State. The Secretary of State, in real time during the conduct of an election, must compile any incidents or complaints submitted to the Department of State or to county election officials.
At a minimum, the reported incidents or complaints must be categorized by the following:
(1) the location, if any, and date of the incident or complaint;
(2) the type of incident or complaint; and
(3) the action, if any, taken in response to the incident or complaint.
The Secretary of State is directed to also provide the complied information to the appropriate officials, including, but not limited to, the NJ Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in a form and manner consistent with State and federal law. Following the election, the Secretary of State is also required to prepare and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature detailing the total number of incidents or complaints.
The bill also requires the telephone numbers of the U.S. Attorney's Office Election Hotline, the NJ Election Hotline, and county election officials to be posted at polling places in the voter information notice required by current law and in the printed directions transmitted with mail-in ballots that is also required by current law.
