S3784

An Act concerning ranked-choice voting for presidential primaries and general elections for electors for United States President and Vice-President and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. Notwithstanding any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, presidential primaries and general elections for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States shall be conducted using ranked-choice voting, an election method in which voters rank candidates in order of their preference, the ballots are counted in rounds, and the votes are distributed to candidates according to the preferences marked on each ballot, in accordance with the process established under this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

2. As used in this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

“Continuing candidate” means any candidate that has not been defeated or elected.

“Election threshold” means the number of votes sufficient for a candidate to be elected, which shall be 50 percent of the votes counting for candidates in an election, plus one.

“Exhausted ballot” means a ballot that is not counted for any continuing candidate because the ballot (1) does not rank any continuing candidates, (2) contains an overvote by ranking more than one candidate as the highest-ranked continuing candidate, or (3) contains two or more consecutive skipped rankings prior to its highest-ranked continuing candidate.

“Highest-ranked continuing candidate” means the candidate assigned to the highest ranking order on a ballot that is not an exhausted ballot.

“Ranking order” means the number available to be assigned by a voter to a candidate to express the voter’s choice for that candidate, with the number “1” being the highest ranking order, followed by the number “2,” and then the number “3,” and so on.

“Round” means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation beginning with paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 4 of this act (C. ).

3. In any election conducted by ranked-choice voting pursuant to this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the ballot shall be designed to allow voters to rank candidates in ranking order, including write-in candidates. The ballot shall allow voters to assign a ranking order to each qualified candidate on the ballot. In the event that the voting equipment cannot feasibly accommodate a ballot containing a number of rankings equal to the number of qualified candidates, the ballot may be designed to allow a voter to rank the maximum number allowed by the voting equipment, provided the ballot shall allow the voter to rank at least six candidates. The ballot shall not interfere with a voter’s ability to rank write-in candidates.

4. a. In a presidential primary or a general election for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, the ranked-choice voting tabulation shall be conducted pursuant to this subsection, and shall proceed in rounds, sequentially, as follows:

(1) each ballot shall count as one vote for the highest-ranked continuing candidate on that ballot. If a candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes, that candidate is elected and the tabulation is complete;

(2) if two or fewer continuing candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected, and the tabulation is complete;

(3) if more than two continuing candidates remain, the continuing candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, and a new round begins with paragraph (1) of this subsection.

b. In any round of tabulation pursuant to subsection a. of this section, a ballot that does not contain a highest-ranked continuing candidate shall not count for any candidate. Instead, the ballot shall be declared inactive and shall be counted as an exhausted ballot.

c. In any round of tabulation pursuant to subsections a. of this section, if two or more candidates are tied with the fewest votes, and a tabulation cannot continue until the candidate with the fewest votes is defeated, then the candidate to be defeated shall be determined by lot. Election officials may resolve prospective ties between candidates prior to the tabulation after all votes are cast.

5. The Secretary of State shall issue guidelines and promulgate, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the ranked-choice voting procedures established by the provisions of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

6. This act shall take effect immediately, but shall remain inoperative until the January 1st following the 12th month from the date the Secretary of State officially certifies that all voting machines used in this State have the capability to support the ranked-choice voting procedures established by this act.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a ranked-choice voting procedure for presidential primary elections and general elections for electors of candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States. Ranked-choice voting is an election method in which voters rank candidates in order of their preference, the ballots are counted in rounds, and the votes are distributed to candidates according to the preferences marked on each ballot.

The bill requires the ballot to be designed to allow voters to assign a ranking order to each qualified candidate on the ballot, including write-in candidates. In the event that the voting equipment cannot feasibly accommodate a ballot containing a number of rankings equal to the number of qualified candidates, the ballot is permitted to be designed to allow a voter to rank the maximum number allowed by the voting equipment, but not less than six candidates.

Under the bill, the ballots cast would be tabulated in rounds. Each ballot counts as one vote for the highest-ranked candidate on that ballot. If a candidate reaches the election threshold of 50 percent of the votes plus one, that candidate is elected and the tabulation is complete. If two or fewer continuing candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected, and the tabulation is complete. However, if more than two continuing candidates remain, the continuing candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, and a new round of counting begins until a candidate reaches the election threshold.

The bill directs the Secretary of State to issue guidelines and promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the ranked-choice voting procedures established by the bill.

The bill would take effect immediately, but would remain inoperative until the January 1st following 12 months after the Secretary of State officially certifies that all voting machines used in this State have the capability to support ranked-choice voting.