Bill Text: NJ A4570 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires early voting period in-person voting for 2020 general election; makes appropriation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4570 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4570-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman BETTYLOU DECROCE
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires early voting period for in-person voting for 2020 general election; makes appropriation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring an early voting period for in-person voting for the 2020 general election and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. In addition to all other forms of voting provided for by Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, a registered voter shall be permitted to vote at a specially designated polling place before the day of the 2020 general election, starting on the 14th calendar day before the general election and ending on the calendar day before the general election. This procedure shall be known as early voting.
The voting shall be conducted using voting machines. Pursuant to the provisions of this act and Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, each county board of elections shall determine the method of verifying that a registered voter is qualified to vote in the election and shall prescribe the manner by which a registered voter may vote during such period.
b. For the 2020 general election, each county board of elections shall designate the building in each municipality in which the office of the municipal clerk is located as the site for early voting to occur. The county board shall designate an additional five public locations as early voting sites if the number of registered voters in the county is at least 150,000 but less than 300,000, and shall designate an additional seven public locations as early voting sites if the number of registered voters in the county is 300,000 or more. The number of registered voters in each county shall be determined ahead of the selection of the additional early voting sites pursuant to a uniform standard which shall be developed by the Secretary of State and shall be effective immediately, notwithstanding the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.140 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
Whenever possible, the additional early voting sites shall be geographically located so as to ensure both access in the part of the county that features the greatest concentration of population, according to the most recent federal decennial census of the United States, and access in various geographic areas of the county. All additional early voting sites shall be public facilities, such as county courthouses or public libraries. No public school building and no building used as a public school shall be designated as an early voting site.
The additional early voting
sites shall be designated within 10 days of the issuance of the uniform
standard by the Secretary of State. In the event of a tie vote among members
of the county board with respect to the selection of the additional sites for
early voting, the county clerk shall cast the deciding vote.
c. Each early voting site shall be open for voting on each day
of the early voting period, including Saturday and Sunday, from 9 AM to 6 PM. Any voter who is in line at the time scheduled for the closing of an early voting site shall be permitted to vote.
The county board of elections shall have posted a voter information notice, referred to as a voter's bill of rights, in a conspicuous location in each polling place used for early voting for the 2020 general election.
d. The election officers responsible for conducting early voting shall be the same as those responsible for conducting a general election pursuant to Title 19 of the Revised Statutes. The number of such officers and their hours of service shall be as determined by each county board of elections. The compensation for such officers shall be the same as provided to district board of election members serving at a school election pursuant to R.S.19:45-6, except that no such compensation shall be paid to an officer who performs early voting functions during regular assigned hours of work as a public employee for which the person is paid a salary, hourly wages, or any overtime pay.
e. The restrictions governing the conduct of voters at a polling place on the days that early voting occurs, the procedures governing who is permitted in a polling place on such occasions, and the prohibition on electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place during an election, shall be as provided in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
f. At least once each day during the early voting period, and prior to the start of the 2020 general election, each county board shall make such changes as may be necessary to the voter's record in the Statewide voter registration system and the signature copy register used at each polling place to indicate that a voter has voted in the 2020 general election using the early voting procedure.
g. Each county board shall be responsible for developing and executing a written plan to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the integrity of the voting process and the security of voting machines, ballots, and election records used during the early voting period for the 2020 general election. The plan shall be based on guidelines established by the Secretary of State and shall be submitted to the secretary. Each plan shall specify a chain of custody for the voting machines, voted ballots, and election records and materials, and shall require, among other specifications deemed necessary by the Secretary of State and county boards of election, that all voted ballots shall be transferred at the end of each early voting day to county boards of election for safekeeping until canvassing on election day as required by law.
Each county board shall submit its plan to the Secretary of State within 10 days following the effective date of this act, and the Secretary of State shall review it and, if deemed necessary thereby, require changes in the plan no later than 10 days before the start of early voting for the 2020 general election.
h. Each county board shall make certain that each polling place used for early voting for the 2020 general election shall be accessible to individuals with disabilities and the elderly, in compliance with the "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and that each polling place provides such voters, including those who are blind or visually impaired, the same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as other voters in compliance with the "Help America Vote Act of 2002" (42 U.S.C. 15481).
i. Each polling place used for early voting for the 2020 general election shall have such appropriate supplies, ballots, and other materials deemed necessary by the Secretary of State or as is required currently for a polling place on the day of any election by Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
2. In addition to any publications required under Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, the Secretary of State and each county board of elections shall cause to be published information concerning the early voting procedure for the 2020 general election on the Department of State's website and on each county's website. The early voting information shall include, at a minimum, a notice to the public concerning their eligibility to participate in early voting for the 2020 general election, the duration of the early voting period, and the locations and hours of operation of specially designated polling places for early voting in each county.
3. a. A duly-registered voter shall be permitted to participate in early voting for the 2020 general election after submitting a completed Early Voting Voter Certificate in substantially the following form:
EARLY VOTING VOTER CERTIFICATE FOR 2020 GENERAL ELECTION
I,__________(your name), am a registered voter, residing at___________________ (your street address),__________County, New Jersey. I do solemnly swear or affirm that I am the person so listed on the voter registration rolls of ___________County and that I reside at the above address. I understand that if I commit or attempt to commit fraud in connection with voting, vote fraudulently or vote more than once in an election I could be convicted of a crime of the third degree and fined up to $15,000 and imprisoned for up to five years. I understand that my failure to sign this certificate invalidates my vote.
___________________
(Voter Signature)
___________________
(Date)
Using the completed early voting certificate, and prior to permitting the voter to vote, an election official shall ascertain, in substantially the same manner as required on the day of an election pursuant to Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, that the voter is a duly-registered voter of the county and is entitled to vote in the 2020 general election. Each early voting voter certificate shall be collected and forwarded to the county board at the end of each day of the early voting period and shall be kept by the board for two years following the date of the 2020 general election.
b. A voter who has voted in the 2020 general election using the early voting procedure established by this act shall not be permitted to vote by mail-in ballot or in person at the polling place in the voter's election district on the day of the 2020 general election.
4. a. The challengers for early voting for the 2020 general election shall be appointed in the same manner as provided in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes for all elections. The name and address of each challenger, including a candidate acting as a challenger or a challenger representing a grouping of two or more candidates, together with the number or name and location of the polling place at which the challenger is to serve, shall be filed with the county board of elections not later than the fifth day preceding the start of the early voting period for the 2020 general election.
b. Each challenger, including a candidate acting as a challenger or a challenger representing a grouping of two or more candidates, shall have all of the powers of challengers serving at other elections, as provided for in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
c. Any voter whose name does not appear on a challenge list but who is challenged as not qualified or entitled to vote by a challenger duly appointed pursuant to this section shall be entitled to the rights and protections provided by Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
5. During the early voting period for the 2020 general election, the county board shall make available to the public a tally of the total number of voters who have cast a ballot at each early voting site during the previous day. The county boards shall prepare an electronic data file listing the names of the individual voters who cast a ballot during the early voting period.
This information shall be made
available to the public in an electronic format pursuant to rules adopted by
the county board and subject to review by the Secretary of State. The
information shall be updated and made available to the public no later than
noon of each day during the early voting period and shall, at the same time,
be provided to the clerk of the county in which early voting is occurring and to the Secretary of State.
6. An early vote cast in the 2020 general election, as provided for in this act, shall not be canvassed prior to the closing of the polls on the day of the 2020 general election.
Every provisional ballot voted during the early voting period for the 2020 general 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 2020 general election.
7. The Secretary of State is hereby authorized to make such adjustments to the requirements in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act requiring an early voting period for the 2020 general election.
8. Upon application for reimbursement by a county or municipal governing body to the Secretary of State, and approval of the application by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury, a county or municipality shall be reimbursed by the State for any additional direct expenditures incurred by a county or municipality as a result of the provisions of this act requiring an early voting period for the 2020 general election.
9. There is appropriated from the General Fund, and from any federal funds that may be available, to the Department of State as State aid to each county and each municipality, for the conduct of the early voting period for the 2020 general election, such sums as the State Treasurer and the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury deem necessary to effectuate the purpose of section 8 of this act.
10. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes an in-person early voting procedure to allow
voters to cast their votes at specially designated polling places, starting on the 14th calendar day before the 2020 general election and ending on November 2, 2020 (a Monday).
Under the bill, in-person early voting will enable a registered voter to vote at a designated polling place before the day of a 2020 general election using a voting machine. Designated polling places must be open for early voting on each day, including Saturday and Sunday, from 9 AM to 6 PM. A duly-registered voter will be permitted to vote after signing an early voting voter certificate, and after the voter's eligibility to vote is ascertained in substantially the same manner as on the general election day. At least once each day during the early voting period, and prior to the start of the regularly scheduled 2020 general election, each county board must make such changes as may be necessary to the voter's record in the Statewide voter registration system and the signature copy register used at each polling place to indicate that a voter has voted in that election using the early voting procedure. A voter who participates in early voting would not be permitted to vote by mail-in ballot or in person on the day of the 2020 general election.
The bill provides that each county board of elections is to designate an early voting polling site in the building of each municipality in which the office of the municipal clerk is located. The county board must designate an additional five public locations as early voting sites if the number of registered voters in the county is at least 150,000 but less than 300,000, and must designate an additional seven public locations as early voting sites if the number of registered voters in the county is 300,000 or more.
When possible, the additional early voting sites must be geographically located so as to ensure both access in the part of the county that features the greatest concentration of population, according to the most recent federal decennial census of the United States, and access in various geographic areas of the county. No public school building may serve as an early voting site.
The election officers responsible for conducting early voting for the 2020 general election would be the same as those responsible for conducting the general election. The number of such officers and their hours of service would be as determined by each county board of elections. The compensation for such officers would be as provided for by current law for poll workers serving at a school election.
The bill provides that each county board will be responsible for developing and executing a written plan for the security of the voting machines, ballots, and election records used during the early voting period for the 2020 general election, based on guidelines established by the Secretary of State. The written security plan is to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the integrity of the voting process and the security of the voting machines, voted ballots, and election records and materials used during the early voting period. The security plan must specify a chain of custody for voting machines and voted ballots, which must include the transfer of voted ballots to each county board of elections at the end of each early voting day for safekeeping until canvassing on election day. For the 2020 general election, the procedures concerning the conduct of voters at the polling place and the appointment of challengers, as well as the prohibition on electioneering within 100 feet of a polling place, will be as provided for in current law.
The bill also provides that, in addition to any publications required under Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, the Secretary of State and county boards of elections must publish on the Department of State's website and the respective county's website information concerning the early voting procedure for the 2020 general election. The early voting information must include, but may not be limited to, a notice to the public concerning their eligibility to participate in early voting, the duration of the early voting period, and the locations and hours of operation of specially designated polling places for early voting in each county.
Funds to pay for early voting for the 2020 general election would be provided to each county and municipality in such amounts as the State Treasurer and the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury deem necessary to cover any additional costs incurred as a result of this bill.
On August 14, 2020, Governor Murphy announced that the 2020 general election would be conducted primarily by a vote-by-mail system. All active registered votes would automatically receive a prepaid, return postage vote-by-mail ballot. A limited number of polling places would be open on the day of the general election for voter to cast in-person provisional ballots.
No voter should be precluded from voting in-person if they want to do so. The State should and can maintain in-person voting in ways that ensure the health of the State's voters by reducing the congregating of voters at polling places. There is evidence that the absence of in-person voting options could negatively impact voters. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that voters are not crowded in polling places on the day of the 2020 general election or forced to wait in lines to exercise their voting rights.
Those voters that wish to vote by other means due to concerns related to the public health emergency may take advantage of the State's vote-by-mail procedures.
In addition, shifting to a primarily vote-by-mail procedure for the 2020 general election would result in significant additional costs to the taxpayers of this State. The surge in mail-in ballots will require the State to spend more money than limited in-person voting would require. Counties will be required to obtain additional space and retain additional staff for processing the mail-in ballots for the 2020 general election.
Election officials have little time remaining before the 2020 general election to prepare for the change in the election process to primarily mail-in voting. States with all or primarily mail-in voting have spent years developing and perfecting the process, while New Jersey is rushing this process without ensuring the State and voters have the tools necessary to handle these changes. These changes will lead to delays in results for the 2020 general election and cause greater voter confusion.
