Bill Text: NJ S856 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Allows canvassing of early votes and mail-in ballots before election day under certain conditions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-29 - Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [S856 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S856-Amended.html
[Third Reprint]
SENATE, No. 856
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 2022
Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Gopal, Turner and Diegnan
SYNOPSIS
Allows canvassing of early votes and mail-in ballots before election day under certain conditions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As amended by the Senate on June 16, 2022.
An Act concerning the canvassing of votes cast during the early voting period and through mail-in ballots and amending P.L.2021, c.40 and P.L.2009, c.22.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.2021, c.40 (C.19:15A-4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. An early vote cast in an election, as provided for in this act, P.L.2021, c.40 (C.19:15A-1 et al.), shall not be canvassed prior to the closing of the polls on the day of an election, except as provided under subsection b. of this section.
Every provisional ballot voted in each such election and determined by a county board to be valid shall be counted and shall be part of the official tally of the results of the election.
b. (1) A 1[county board of elections] county clerk1 may begin canvassing each early vote 3, excluding provisional and emergency ballots,3 no earlier than 24 hours after the conclusion of the early voting period. The Secretary of State 3[shall] may3 establish guidelines concerning the early vote canvassing process. If a 1[county board of elections] county clerk1 begins canvassing 3[the] such3 early votes prior to the day of the election, the 1[county board] county clerk1 shall implement the measures necessary to ensure the security and secrecy of the early votes 3, which shall include following any guidelines issued by the Secretary of State3. The early votes and the results of the canvassing shall remain confidential and shall be disclosed only in accordance with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, regulations and guidelines concerning the disclosure of election results, and in no circumstances disclosed prior to the close of polls on the day of the election.
(2) Any person who 3[is authorized to receive and canvass the early votes pursuant to this section who]3 knowingly discloses to the public the early votes and the results of the canvass prior to the time designated by law for the closing of the polls for each election shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
1c. The 2[county clerk] county board of elections2 shall transmit the 3[results of] media for3 the early voting canvass authorized under subsection b. of this section to the 2[county board of elections] county clerk2 for canvass no later than the opening of the polls on the day of the election.
d. Early voting results 3, excluding those from provisional or emergency ballots,3 shall be reported on the date of the election following the closing of the polls that day. After the canvass is completed, early voting results shall be reported as a separate column alongside the columns for election day voting results and mail-in voting results.1
(cf: P.L.2021, c.40, s.4)
2. Section 22 of P.L.2009, c.22 (C.19:63-22) is amended to read as follows:
22. a. On the day of each election, or as provided under subsection b. of this section, each county board of elections shall open in the presence of the commissioner of registration, or the designee thereof, the inner envelopes that contain the mail-in ballots with the votes cast for the election. The inner envelopes containing the ballots that the board or the Superior Court has rejected shall not be so opened, but shall be retained as provided for by this act. The board shall then proceed to canvass the votes cast on the mail-in ballots, but no such ballot shall be counted in any primary election for the general election if the ballot of the political party marked for voting thereon differs from the designation of the political party in the primary election of which such ballot is intended to be voted as marked on the envelope by the county board of elections.
Every mail-in ballot that bears a postmark date before or of the day of the election and that is received by the county board within 144 hours after the time of the closing of the polls for the election that the ballot was prepared shall be considered valid and shall be canvassed. Every mail-in ballot that does not bear a postmark date but that is received by the county board by delivery of the United States Postal Service before, or within 48 hours after, the time of the closing of the polls for the election for which the ballot was prepared shall be considered valid and shall be canvassed.
b. A county board of elections may begin opening the inner envelopes 3no earlier than five days prior to the day of the election3 and 3may begin3 canvassing each mail-in ballot from the inner envelopes no earlier than 3[ten] three3 days prior to the day of the election 3, and shall begin canvassing no later than the opening of the polls on day of the election3. 3The county board of elections shall transfer the media containing any canvassed mail-in results to the county clerk no later than one hour following the close of the polls. Canvassed mail-in results shall be reported on the date of the election following the closing of the polls that day and shall be reported as a separate column alongside the columns for election day voting results and early voting results, excluding results from provisional or emergency ballots.3
The Secretary of State 3[shall] may3 establish guidelines concerning the early canvassing process. If a county board of elections begins opening the inner envelopes and canvassing the mail-in ballots from the inner envelopes prior to the day of the election, the county board shall implement the measures necessary to ensure the security and secrecy of the mail-in ballots 3, which shall include following any guidelines established by the Secretary of State. To the extent capable, the scanning and tabulation system shall restrict the generation of any tabulation or results report to system administrators only. The administrator passwords shall not be shared. No such report may be run before 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election, and, to the extent such system is capable, each county board of elections shall submit to the Division of Elections no later than 24 hours following the close of the polls on the day of the election a complete copy of the scanning and tabulation system's audit log from the time that scanning commenced until 8:00 p.m. on the date of the election. If the audit log reveals that a tabulation or results report was generated before 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election, the Division of Elections shall report such information to the appropriate authorities3.
The contents of the mail-in ballots and the results of the ballot canvassing shall remain confidential and shall be disclosed only in accordance with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, regulations and guidelines concerning the disclosure of election results, and in no circumstances disclosed prior to the close of polls on the day of the election. As provided under R.S.19:34-13, any person who 3[is authorized to receive and canvass completed mail-in-ballots who]3 knowingly discloses to the public the contents of a mail-in ballot prior to the time designated by law for the closing of the polls for each election shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
c. Immediately after the canvass is completed, the respective county boards of election shall certify the result of the canvass to the county clerk or the municipal or district clerk or other appropriate officer, as the case may be, showing the result of the canvass by municipality and ward. The votes thus canvassed shall be counted in determining the result of the election.
The county 3[board of elections] clerks3 shall, immediately after the canvass is completed for any primary election, certify the results of the votes cast for members of the county committees to the respective municipal clerks, and those votes shall be counted in determining the result of the election.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.71, s.13)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
