Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SADAF F. JAFFER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson
SYNOPSIS
Permits county board of elections to begin counting mail-in ballots up to 14 days prior to election day.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the opening and canvassing of mail-in ballots and amending P.L.2009, c.79.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 22 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-22) is amended to read as follows:
22. On the day of each election 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. A county board of elections may begin opening the inner envelopes and canvassing the mail-in ballots no earlier than 14 days prior to the date of the election. If the county board of elections begins canvassing mail-in ballots before the date of the election, the county board shall implement the measures necessary to ensure the security and secrecy of the mail-in ballots and the canvassing process. The contents of the mail-in ballots shall remain confidential until the closing of the polls for that election, and, thereafter, shall be disclosed only in accordance with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes and regulations concerning the disclosure of election results.
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.
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 board of elections 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)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current law, mail-in ballots for an election are not permitted to be counted until election day. Under this bill, a county board of elections may begin opening the inner envelopes and canvassing the mail-in ballots no earlier than 14 days prior to the date of the election. If the county board of elections begins canvassing mail-in ballots before the day of the election, the county board is required to ensure the security and secrecy of the mail-in ballots and the canvassing process. The contents of the mail-in ballots must remain confidential until the closing of the polls for that election, and, thereafter, are to be disclosed only in accordance with the laws and regulations concerning the disclosure of election results.