Bill Text: NJ A1518 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits police officers to be assigned to school if school is being used as polling place during conduct of election.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A1518 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1518-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GERRY SCHARFENBERGER
District 13 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman VICTORIA A. FLYNN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Permits police officers to be assigned to school if school is being used as polling place during conduct of election.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning police presence at certain polling places and amending R.S.19:6-16.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:6-16 is amended to read as follows:
19:6-16. a. (1) The commission, committee, board or official having charge of the police department in any county or municipality shall not assign police officers to any district board in that county or municipality, in order to enforce the election laws, maintain order, peace and quiet during the hours of registry and election, assist the board by performing the duties of a board member, or serve at the polling place of that district board, or in order to perform other routine purposes related to the conduct of elections[, except that] .
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a district board, superintendent of elections, or a county clerk may request that [a police officer or sheriff's officer] one or more police officers be assigned:
to transport specific election materials to a polling place or from a polling place to the district board or county clerk [and a police officer or sheriff's officer may be assigned for that purpose.] ; and
to a school, if a polling place is located at that school, to provide security at the school during the conduct of the election.
Upon the request, the commission, committee, board, or official having charge of the police department may assign one or more police officers for the purposes in this paragraph. No officer transporting election materials to or from a polling place or providing security at a polling place located at a school shall interfere with any person present at the location for the purpose of voting.
(3) The commission, committee, board or official having charge of the police department in any county or municipality may assign one or more police officers to a senior residential center that has reported a threat or safety concern, and any such officer assigned to a senior residential center shall not interfere with any person present at the location for the purpose of voting.
(4) Any officer who violates this section shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
b. Nothing in subsection a. of this section, subsection b. of R.S.19:6-15, or subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.1991, c.306 (C.19:6-15.1) shall be construed to prohibit the dispatch, detail, or assignment of a police officer or other law enforcement officer due to a request for assistance made to the commission, committee, board, body, authority, or official having charge of the police department in any county or municipality, or to any other law enforcement agency, for assistance with regard to a specific emergency, allegation of criminal conduct, or disturbance that exists at the time the request for assistance is made. The police officers or law enforcement officers responding to the request for assistance shall take any prompt actions as may be available and as may be necessary in order to address the emergency, allegation, or disturbance and ensure the continued orderly conduct of the election and election processes, and shall remain present at that location during the conduct of the election only as long as necessary to investigate, address, and remove that specific emergency or disturbance.
The district board shall promptly notify the county board of elections or superintendent of elections, as appropriate, of the dispatch of any police officer or other law enforcement officer in response to a request for assistance in accordance with this subsection. The county board of elections or superintendent of elections, as appropriate, shall promptly notify the Secretary of State of the dispatch of that police officer or other law enforcement officer. The Secretary of State, county boards of elections, and superintendents of elections shall maintain a record of all dispatches issued and reported pursuant to this section, which shall include, but need not be limited to, the time of the dispatch, polling place location, reason for the dispatch, name of the police or law enforcement officer, the police or law enforcement officer's badge number, the duration of the police or law enforcement officer's presence, and the immediate outcome of the dispatch. Information obtained pursuant to this section is deemed to be a public or government record and shall be subject to disclosure as provided in the public records law, P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.)
(cf: P.L.2021, c.459, s.3)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, the presence of police officers at polling places during the conduct of an election and at ballot drop box locations in use during the conduct of an election is limited. This bill amends current law to permit police officers to be assigned to a school if the school is being used as a polling place during conduct of an election.
Under the bill, a district board, superintendent of elections, or a county clerk may request that one or more police officer be assigned to a school during the conduct of an election to provide security at that school. Upon the request, a commission, committee, board, or official having charge of the police department in any county or municipality may assign one or more police officers for that purpose. Under the bill, interfering with any person present at a location for the purpose of voting while transporting election materials to or from a polling place or providing security at a polling place located at a school is prohibited. Any officer who violated the prohibition would be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
