Bill Text: NJ A5543 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Removes 48-hour provision for acceptance of ballots postmarked by election day; increases penalties for violation of ballot messenger and bearer limits and candidate prohibition.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5543 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5543-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Assemblyman KEVIN J. ROONEY
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Removes 48-hour provision for acceptance of ballots postmarked by election day; increases penalties for violation of ballot messenger and bearer limits and candidate prohibition.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the mail-in ballot acceptance deadline and the penalties for certain violations of the ballot messenger and bearer provisions 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. 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 of the day of the election and that is received by the county board within 48 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.]
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.2018, c.72, s.8)
2. Section 28 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-28) is amended to read as follows:
28. a. Any person who
knowingly violates any of the provisions of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et al.),
or who, not being entitled to vote thereunder, fraudulently votes or attempts
to vote thereunder,
or enables or attempts to enable another person not entitled to vote thereunder to vote fraudulently thereunder, or who prevents or attempts to prevent by fraud the voting of any person legally entitled to vote under this act, or who shall knowingly certify falsely in any paper required under this act, or who, at any time, tampers with any ballot or document used in an election or interferes with the secrecy of the voting of any person, is guilty of a crime of the third degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject, in addition to such other penalties as are authorized by law, to disenfranchisement, unless and until pardoned or restored by law to the right of suffrage.
b. Any person who knowingly aids and abets another in violating any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a crime of the third degree and upon conviction thereof shall be subject, in addition to such other penalties as are authorized by law, to disenfranchisement, unless and until pardoned or restored by law to the right of suffrage.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary, any person who knowingly violates the provisions of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et al.) that prohibit a person from serving as an authorized messenger or as a bearer for more than three qualified voters in an election, and that prohibit a person who is a candidate in the election for which the voter requests a mail-in ballot from serving as an authorized messenger or bearer, is guilty of a crime of the second degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject, in addition to such other penalties as are authorized by law, to disenfranchisement, unless and until pardoned or restored by law to the right of suffrage.
(cf: P.L.2015, c.84, s.6)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill removes the provision of current law that allows for mail-in ballots to be counted if received within 48-hours after the polls close and are postmarked by election day. This bill also increases the penalties for the violation of the ballot messenger and bearer limits and the prohibition against candidates acting as messengers or bearers.
Under current law, every mail-in ballot that is postmarked by election day and that is received by the county board of elections within 48 hours after the time of the closing of the polls is considered valid and is required to be canvassed. This bill deletes this timeframe. Therefore, mail-in ballots received after the polls close would not be counted.
Current law also provides that a person may act as a ballot messenger or a bearer for up to three voters in an election. Messengers deliver blank ballots to eligible voters, and bearers return completed ballots to election officials on behalf of eligible voters. The law prohibits candidates from serving as messengers or bearers. Under current law, a person who violates these provisions is guilty of a crime of the third degree and, upon conviction, is subject, in addition to such other penalties as are authorized by law, to disenfranchisement, unless and until pardoned or restored by law to the right of suffrage.
This bill provides that any person who knowingly violates the law by serving as an authorized messenger or as a bearer for more than three qualified voters in an election, and any candidate serving as a messenger or bearer in the election for which the voter requests a mail-in ballot, is guilty of a crime of the second degree and, upon conviction, is subject, in addition to such other penalties as are authorized by law, to disenfranchisement, unless and until pardoned or restored by law to the right of suffrage.
