SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[Second Reprint]
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
ASSEMBLY, No. 1715
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 28, 2026
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 1715 (2R) ACS.
As amended by the committee, the Senate Committee Substitute for this bill establishes the “John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey.”
Under the bill, all statutes, rules, and regulations in this State including all local laws or ordinances related to the elective franchise must be construed liberally in favor of:
(1) protecting the right of voters to have their ballot cast and counted;
(2) ensuring that eligible voters are not impaired in registering to vote; and
(3) ensuring voters do not face unlawful discrimination in voting.
The bill prohibits elections officials from prescribing or maintaining voting or elections policies and practices that unnecessarily deny or abridge the right to vote. The bill also prohibits a local election office or political subdivision from using a method of election that has the effect of impairing the ability of members of a protected class to elect candidates of their choice or influence the outcome of elections, as a result of vote dilution. The bill requires that any policy or practice that burdens the right to vote is justified by a compelling State interest, consistent with the precedent established by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Worden v. Mercer County Board of Elections, 61 N.J. 325 (1972). The bill provides criteria for determining if a violation of the bill has occurred, including if a voter’s right to vote has been violated or if the voter has experienced vote dilution.
The Attorney General is tasked with overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the bill’s provisions. The Attorney General will still be authorized to provide guidance to local election officials as to their legal requirements and defend State election law but must adopt a firewall and appropriate safeguards to avoid potential conflicts between these responsibilities.
If a violation of the provisions of the bill occurs, the bill provides a remedy process, including for county and municipal apportionment and redistricting maps. The bill provides that after a New Jersey Voter Empowerment Act (NJVEA) notification letter is mailed from a prospective plaintiff to a political subdivision, the political subdivision may pass an NJVEA resolution affirming: (1) the political subdivision's intention to enact and implement a remedy for a potential violation; (2) specific steps the political subdivision will undertake to facilitate approval and implementation of such a remedy; and (3) a schedule for enacting and implementing such a remedy.
The bill provides that if the governing body of a political subdivision lacks the authority under this act or applicable State law or local laws to enact or implement a remedy identified in the resolution, or fails to enact or implement a remedy identified in the resolution, within 140 days after the passage of the resolution, or if the political subdivision is a covered entity as defined by the bill, the governing body of the political subdivision must coordinate with the Attorney General to resolve the violation, including affirming that any proposal is unlikely to violate the United States Constitution, New Jersey Constitution, or any federal or State law, and is feasible to implement.
Under the bill, the Attorney General is provided with certain preclearance powers. Preclearance is the process of reviewing an election-related policy, procedure, or practice prior to its implementation.
The bill provides that political subdivisions that have, in the prior 15 years, been the subject of a court order, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or any other settlement in which the political subdivision conceded liability, alleging a pattern, practice, or policy of discrimination against a protected class in violation of the bill, the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 15th amendment to the United States Constitution, or a voting-related violation of the 14th amendment to the United States Constitution, are subject to preclearance. Counties and political subdivisions that meet certain criteria regarding the number of voters belonging to a protected class, arrest rates within the jurisdiction, or certain percentages of voter participation in elections within the jurisdiction may additionally be subject to preclearance procedures.
The bill requires that covered entities seek approval from the Attorney General prior to adopting or implementing any changes to voting procedures or qualifications within the jurisdiction. This includes voter registration and the maintenance of voter rolls, dates and methods of an election, assignment of election districts, early voting locations and polling place hours, and additional topics as designated by the Attorney General. Covered entities must also submit their at-large method of election to the Attorney General for review and approval following a federal decennial census.
The bill provides for assistance to language-minority groups. Under the bill, a local election office or a political subdivision that administers elections must provide language-related assistance in voting and elections to a language-minority group in a political subdivision based on data from the United States Census Bureau American Community Survey, or data of comparable quality collected by a State, county, or local public office, if: (1) more than two percent, but in no instance fewer than 300 individuals, of citizens of voting age of a political subdivision that speak a particular shared language other than English and are limited English proficient; or (2) more than 4,000 of citizens of voting age of a political subdivision that speak a particular shared language other than English and are limited English proficient.
The bill further provides that a local election office or political subdivision required to provide language assistance to a particular language-minority group must provide voting materials in the covered language of an equal quality of the corresponding English language materials, including registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other physical or online materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots. When a designated language has more than one spoken dialect, the local election office or political subdivision must ascertain the dialects that are commonly used by members of the applicable language minority group in the jurisdiction and provide oral assistance in such dialects.
Under the bill, any aggrieved persons or organization whose membership includes aggrieved persons or members of a protected class, any organization whose mission, in whole or in part, is to ensure voting access and such mission would be hindered by a violation of this bill, or the Attorney General may file an action pursuant to the bill’s provisions in court. Upon a finding that a violation of the bill’s provisions has occurred, a court may order any remedy necessary to cure the violation.
The bill also provides that for any action or investigation to enforce any provision of this bill, the Attorney General would have the authority to take proof and determine relevant facts, and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil and criminal laws of this State.
Lastly, the bill requires the creation of a publicly accessible elections database to be maintained by the Division of Elections in the Department of State.
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) encourage participation in the elective franchise by all eligible voters to the maximum extent;
(2) ensure that eligible voters who are members of racial, ethnic, and language minority groups have an equal opportunity to participate in the political processes of this State and exercise the elective franchise;
(3) improve the quality and availability of demographic and election data; and
(4) protect eligible voters against intimidation and deceptive practices.
As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 1715 (2R) ACS is identical to Senate Bill No. 282 SCS, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amendments:
(1) remove language defining a “deceptive or fraudulent device, contrivance, or communication” as that which contains intentionally false information. Instead, the amendments establish that a violation where a person uses a deceptive or fraudulent device, contrivance or communication with reckless disregard for the truth;
(2) specify that “government enforcement action” means an enforcement action taken by the Attorney General in response to the implementation of a covered policy, by a covered entity, despite a denial of preclearance, litigation filed by a federal or State or local entity, a final judgment or adjudication, a consent decree, or similar formal action;
(3) direct the Attorney General to designate the Division on Civil Rights to have general jurisdiction and authority for purposes of enforcing the bill’s provisions;
(4) remove the requirements that the Attorney General issue advisory opinions and appear before the Legislature at least once annually to testify on the implementation of bill’s provisions;
(5) remove language that would have established a violation if a political subdivision, local election office, or State agency failed to take action and a material disparity in access to voting opportunities or impairment of opportunities to participate in the political process resulted;
(6) provide that a political subdivision, local election office, or State agency will not be found to have violated the bill’s provisions if they can demonstrate that an action undertaken is justified by a compelling State interest;
(7) include a significant lack of responsiveness on the part of elected officials to the particularized needs of members of a protected class as a factor to be considered in assessing violations of the bill’s provisions;
(8) modify the inflation adjustment time period for the cap on prospective plaintiff reimbursements to be 24 months rather than 12 months;
(9) authorize a plaintiff to initiate a judicial action if the prospect of obtaining relief under the NJVEA notification and proposal process would be futile or if the party is seeking relief with respect to an election within 70 days;
(10) require that language access materials be provided in a manner consistent with the State’s current requirements for the translation of vital documents;
(11) allow for poll workers to serve in election districts in which they are not residents in order to provide language assistance, provided that the poll worker is a resident of the State;
(12) remove the requirement that the Attorney General conduct a language access study every two years;
(13) remove the requirement that covered entities that are not making changes to their districting plan after a decennial census seek preclearance to maintain their districting plan;
(14) add reference to the local election office responsible for making certain election-related decisions for a covered entity with regard to preclearance;
(15) remove the requirement that the Attorney General consult with the Division of Elections on the feasibility of a proposed policy prior to granting preclearance;
(16) make the grant of preclearance by the Attorney General admissible in a subsequent action challenging the enacted election policy;
(17) remove the requirements that actions brought under the bill’s provisions be heard in court on an expedited basis;
(18) allow the local elections office of a covered entity to temporarily implement a covered policy if the Governor declares a state of emergency and expressly waives the preclearance requirement or if the political subdivision declares a state of emergency;
(19) specify that the Attorney General must maintain records of preclearance submissions in accordance with the timelines established by the Destruction of Public Records Law;
(20) provide that challenges brought in relation to a covered policy approved in the preclearance process must be evaluated with deference to the determinations of the Attorney General;
(21) ensure that the Attorney General will not be held liable for aiding a violation of the bill because the Attorney General approved of an election policy pursuant to the preclearance process;
(22) make the Attorney General’s public education campaign concerning the provisions of the bill subject to the availability of funds, rather than a requirement;
(23) specify that a political subdivision will not be subject to preclearance on the basis of any court order, government enforcement action, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or other settlement occurring prior to the effective date of the bill’s preclearance provisions;
(24) require that the Division of Elections maintains a publicly accessible database with certain election-related information; and
(25) remove the appropriation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.