A3823

An Act concerning elections processes, boards of elections staff salaries, and election worker compensation, amending various parts of the statutory law, and supplementing Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. R.S.19:31-16 is amended to read as follows:

19:31-16. a. [The] (1) Except as prescribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the health officer or other officer in charge of records of death in each municipality shall file with the commissioner of registration for the county in which the municipality is located once each month, during the first five days thereof, the age, date of death, and the names and addresses of all persons 18 years of age or older who have died within such municipality during the previous month. Within 30 days after the receipt of such list, the commissioner shall make and complete such investigation as is necessary to establish to his satisfaction that such deceased person is registered as a voter in the county. If such fact is so established, the commissioner shall cause the registration and record of voting forms of the deceased registrant to be transferred to the death file as soon as possible. If the deceased person was not so registered in the county, but the person maintained a residence in another county of this State, the officer in charge of records of death in the municipality in which the decedent died shall forward a copy of the notice of death to the officer in charge of records of death in the municipality in which the decedent resided. That officer having received the notice shall notify the commissioner of the county in which that municipality is located of the death of the person. Any commissioner who receives such notification shall undertake the procedures prescribed herein with respect to the registration in that county of the decedent.

(2) During the two months immediately preceding a primary or general election, the health officer or other officer in charge of records of death in each municipality shall file with the commissioner of registration for the county in which the municipality is located once every two weeks, during the first three days thereof, the age, date of death, and the names and addresses of all persons 18 years of age or older who died within such municipality during the previous two weeks. Within 10 days after the receipt of such list, the commissioner shall undertake the procedures prescribed pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.

b. The State registrar of vital statistics shall file with the commissioner of registration of each county no later than May 1 of each year an alphabetized list of the name, address, and date of birth, if available, of each resident of the county 18 years of age or older who died during the previous year. Within 30 days after the receipt of the list the commissioner shall undertake and complete such investigation as is necessary to establish that each person on the list is not registered as a voter in the county. The commissioner shall cause the registration and record of voting forms of any deceased registrant found on the list to be transferred to the death file as soon as possible.

(cf: P.L.2011, c.134, s.40)

2. Section 2 of P.L.2005, c.145 (C.19:31-32) is amended to read as follows:

2. a. The Statewide voter registration system shall replace all other computer or electronic-based registry files of voters and other voter registration files established and maintained by each county commissioner of registration for voter registration and election administration purposes established pursuant to the provisions of Title 19 and Title 40 of the Revised Statutes, and shall be the single system for storing and managing the official file of registered voters throughout the State. A commissioner may, however, continue to use and maintain as a supplement to the system the original and duplicate permanent registration binders and voting records and shall continue to use and maintain the signature copy registers or polling records provided for in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

b. Each county commissioner of registration shall be responsible for adding to, deleting from, amending and otherwise conducting on a regular basis maintenance for the files of every legally registered voter in that commissioner's county as contained in the Statewide voter registration system, pursuant to the provisions of section 303 of Pub.L.107-252 (42 U.S.C. s. 15301 et seq.) and Title 19 of the Revised Statutes. Each commissioner shall be responsible for verifying the accuracy of the name, address and other data of registered voters in the commissioner's respective county as contained in the system. The commissioner who receives the voter registration forms of individuals who have registered to vote in the county or who are re-registering for any reason shall be responsible for entering the information on those forms into the system on an expedited basis, and electronically transferring into the system the information from online voter registration forms completed pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.382 (C.19:31-6.4c), including but not limited to forms and information received pursuant to chapter 31 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes. The information the commissioner shall use to update and maintain the system shall be that required by subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.2005, c.145 (C.19:31-31).

c. The Secretary of State and each county commissioner of registration shall be responsible for developing and providing the technological security measures needed to prevent unauthorized access to the Statewide voter registration system established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2005, c.145 (C.19:31-31) and to the information for any individual on the system required by subsection c. of section 1 of that act.

d. The Secretary of State, in consultation with each county commissioner of registration, shall develop minimum standards to safeguard the accuracy of the files contained in the Statewide voter registration system. Such standards shall include procedures to ensure that reasonable effort is made to remove registrants who are ineligible to vote pursuant to federal or State law and to ensure that eligible voters are not removed in error from the system.

e. (1) The Secretary of State and the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in the Department of Transportation shall enter into an agreement to match information in the database of the Statewide voter registration system with information in the database of the commission, including social security numbers, to the extent required to enable verification of the accuracy of the information provided on applications for voter registration, and to locate and utilize for voter registration purposes the digitized signatures of licensed drivers or holders of non-driver identification cards who register to vote using an online voter registration form, as provided pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.382 (C.19:31-6.4c).

(2) The Secretary of State shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services to match information in the database of the Statewide voter registration system with State agency information on death records.

(3) The Secretary of State shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections to match information in the database of the Statewide voter registration system with State agency information on individuals who are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole as the result of a conviction for an indictable offense.

(4) The Secretary of State shall enter into an agreement with the Administrative Office of the Courts to match information in the database of the Statewide voter registration system with State agency information on individuals who are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole as the result of a conviction for an indictable offense.

(5) The Secretary of State shall enter into an agreement with the State Parole Board to match information in the database of the Statewide voter registration system with State agency information on individuals who are on parole.

f. (1) The Secretary of State shall enter into an agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) for the purposes of determining whether a voter is registered in more than one state and for the maintenance of the Statewide voter registration system. The State shall share voter registration information, and information in the database of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in the Department of Transportation shared pursuant to the agreement with the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission prescribed in paragraph (1) of subsection e. of this section. The Secretary of State shall include in any such agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center a provision for the privacy of the information or data that complies fully with applicable State and federal law.

(2) The Secretary of State shall comply with the requirements of the Electronic Registration Information Center Membership Agreement.

(3) The Secretary of State shall deliver the information required pursuant to this subsection as frequently as necessary for the State to comply with the Electronic Registration Information Center Membership Agreement.

(4) The Secretary of State, or the designee thereof, shall serve as the member representative to the Electronic Registration Information Center.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.382, s.5)

3. R.S.19:50-1 is amended to read as follows:

19:50-1. a. Within 30 days before each election, the county board of elections shall cause new members of the district boards who are to serve in election districts to be instructed in the conduct of elections, and in their duties in connection therewith. All district board members shall be required to attend said instructional sessions for each election at least once every two years. The instructional sessions shall be conducted in person. A county board of elections may also offer instructional sessions to district board members remotely, by electronic means, provided that the county board of elections shall implement procedures to conduct such remote sessions. Such procedures shall be approved by the Secretary of State and reviewed and approved once every two years. The county board of elections shall cause to be given to each member of each district board who has received such instruction and is fully qualified to properly conduct the election, a certificate to that effect. For the purpose of giving such instruction the county board of elections shall call such meeting or meetings of the district boards as shall be necessary. The content of said meeting or meetings shall be limited solely to the instruction of district board members; lobbying or the advancement of political ends shall be prohibited. The members of the district board of each election district shall attend such meeting or meetings as shall be called for the purpose of receiving such instruction concerning their duties as shall be necessary for the proper conduct of the election. No member of any district board shall serve in any election unless [he] the member shall have received such instruction as herein provided and is fully qualified to perform the duties in connection with the election, and has received a certificate to that effect from the county board of elections; but this shall not prevent the appointment of a person as a member of the district board to fill a vacancy in an emergency, as now provided by law. In addition to the foregoing, the county board of elections shall design, prepare and distribute training manuals for district board members, pursuant to guidelines established by the [Attorney General] Secretary of State. The county board of elections shall also make the training manual available on its Internet site and on the Internet site of the Division of Elections in the Department of [Law and Public Safety] State.

b. The [Attorney General] Secretary of State shall establish guidelines for the design of training manuals for members of district boards of election, and shall design, prepare and distribute training manuals for members of county boards of election, and county clerks. The [Attorney General] Secretary of State shall also make training manuals available on the Internet site of the Division of Elections.

(cf: P.L.2005, c.151, s.2)

4. Section 3 of P.L.2015, c.249 (C.40A:4-45.45b) is amended to read as follows:

3. a. A budget request submitted to the county governing body by a county entity budget authority on behalf of a county entity shall be comprised of two parts: the amount to be raised by property taxation, and the amount to be funded wholly through federal or State funds, fees raised by the county entity, or other sources.

b. In the preparation of the portion of its budget request to be raised by property taxation, a county entity budget authority shall limit any increase in that portion of its budget request to 2.0% of the previous year's budget request, subject to the exclusions set forth in subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), except that election expenses shall be exempt from the requirements of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, "election expenses" shall mean and include all necessary expenses incurred by the superintendent of elections, county clerk, and board of elections for each county related to election costs and the administration, preparation, and implementation of all elections, including all vendor related contract services; voting machine maintenance, repairs, parts and equipment, certification, and technical coding; transportation of voting machines and election supplies; overtime for all staff related to election duty; food services during election; poll workers, machine technicians, and other temporary workers; supplies; office equipment; printing; postage; and advertisement costs, upon being certified to by the superintendent of elections, county clerk, and board of elections for each county; but shall not mean or include staff salaries for the office of the superintendent of elections, or staff salaries for the county clerk[, or staff salaries for the county board of elections].

c. Nothing in P.L.2015, c.249 (C.40A:4-45.45b et al.) shall diminish the obligations of a county under a collective bargaining agreement with its employees in force on the effective date of P.L.2015, c.249 (C.40A:4-45.45b et al.).

(cf: P.L.2015, c.249, s.3)

5. (New section) Gross income, for the purposes of the “New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act,” N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., shall not include any compensation received pursuant to R.S.19:6-9.1 and R.S.19:45-6 for the services performed by a member of a district board of elections.

6. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill revises voter roll and election worker training processes, exempts election worker compensation from taxation, and removes boards of elections staff salaries from the two percent cap on the increase in expenditures.

Under current law, once per month, the health officer or other officer in charge of records of death in each municipality files lists of all persons 18 years of age or older who have died with the commissioner of registration for the county in which the municipality is located. Also, election workers are required to attend an in-person instructional session at least once every two years. Additionally, staff salaries for the county board of elections are not exempt from the two percent cap on increase in expenditures for county entities. Finally, election worker compensation is included in gross income for the purposes of taxation.

This bill requires that for the two months immediately preceding a primary or general election, the officer in charge of records of death would file bi-weekly reports to the commissioner of registration. The commissioner of registration would then have 10 days to investigate the list and remove any deceased voter from the voter rolls.

This bill also requires the Secretary of State to enter into an agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). ERIC is a non-profit organization that assists states to improve the accuracy of each state’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. ERIC is governed and managed by the states who choose to join. ERIC currently includes 31 member states and the District of Columbia. The State would share voter registration information, and information in the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission database, with ERIC for the purposes of determining whether a voter is registered in more than one state and for the maintenance of the Statewide voter registration system. Membership in ERIC includes a $25,000 initial fee and annual fees ranging from approximately $16,000 to approximately $74,000, depending on a formula that includes citizen voting age population as a factor.

This bill also clarifies that instructional sessions for election workers be conducted in person. A county board of elections may also conduct instructional sessions to district board members remotely, by electronic means. The county boards of elections would implement the procedures for conducting a remote session, which would need to be approved by the Secretary of State. The procedures would need to be reviewed and approved once every two years.

This bill also updates the definition of “election expenses” that are exempt from the two percent cap on increase in expenditures. The update removes the exemption of staff salaries for a county board of elections from the definition of “election expenses,” allowing staff salaries to exceed the two percent cap.

This bill also exempts election worker compensation from gross income taxation.