Bill Text: NJ S1201 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires gender neutral elected office titles on ballots.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-03 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S1201 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S1201-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires gender neutral elected office titles on ballots.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning gender neutral office titles on official ballots and amending R.S.19:49-2.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:49-2 is amended to read as follows:
19:49-2. All office titles on any official ballot shall be gender neutral. All official ballots shall be in black ink in type as large as space will reasonably permit; provided, however, that any public question which shall be placed on the ballot shall be in red and above any public question to be voted upon by the voters of the entire State there shall be, also in red, a description of the public question, which description shall not exceed six words and shall be in type as large as is practicable. Party nominations shall be arranged on each voting machine, either in columns or horizontal rows; the caption of the various ballots on the machines shall be so placed on the machines as to indicate to the voter what device is to be used or operated in order to vote for the candidates or candidate of his or her choice. The providing of the official ballots, the order of the precedence and arrangement of parties and of candidates, and the instructions for the use of a device to be used or operated in order to vote for candidates shall be as now required by law, except that in those counties where voting machines are used, the county clerk shall have the authority to determine the specifications for, and the final arrangement of, the official ballots.
For the primary election for the general election in all counties where voting machines are or shall be used, all candidates who shall file a joint petition with the county clerk of their respective county and who shall choose the same designation or slogan shall be drawn for position on the ballot as a unit and shall have their names placed on the same line of the voting machine; and provided further, that all candidates for municipal or party office in municipalities in counties where voting machines are or shall be used who shall file a petition with the clerk of their municipality bearing the same designation or slogan as that of the candidates filing a joint petition with the county clerk as aforesaid, may request that his or her name be placed on the same line of the voting machine with the candidates who have filed a joint petition with the county clerk as aforesaid by so notifying the county clerk of said county in writing within two days after the last day for filing nominating petitions and thereupon the county clerk shall forthwith notify the campaign manager of such candidates filing a joint petition as aforesaid of said request, and if the said campaign manager shall file his consent in writing with the said county clerk within two days after the receipt of said notification from said county clerk, the clerk of said county shall place the name of such candidate on the same line of the voting machine on which appears the names of the candidates who have filed the joint petition as aforesaid; provided, also, that any candidate filing a petition with the Attorney General may request that his or her name be placed on the same line of the voting machine with the candidates who have filed a joint petition with the county clerk as aforesaid by so notifying the county clerk of said county in writing within two days after the last day for filing nominating petitions, and thereupon the county clerk shall forthwith notify the campaign manager of such candidates filing a joint petition as aforesaid of said request, and if the said campaign manager shall file his consent in writing with the said county clerk within two days after the receipt of said notification from said county clerk, the clerk of said county shall place the name of such candidate on the same line of the voting machine on which appears the names of the candidates who have filed the joint petition as aforesaid.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.202, s.46)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires gender neutral titles for elected offices on all official ballots. Under current law, the county clerk has the authority to determine the specifications for, and the final arrangement of, the official ballots. In at least one county recently, the county clerk authorized gender neutral office titles on the ballot. This bill makes gender neutral titles a requirement on all official ballots.
