Bill Text: NJ S1974 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Requires petitions of nomination of candidates for State, county, school, or municipal elective public office to include functioning e-mail addresses therefor.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-07-20 - Approved P.L.2018, c.66. [S1974 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S1974-Chaptered.html
An Act concerning petitions of nomination for certain candidates seeking elective public office and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:13-4 is amended to read as follows:
19:13-4. Such petition shall set forth the names, places of residence and post-office addresses of the candidates for the offices to be filled, the title of the office for which each candidate is named, that the petitioners are legally qualified to vote for such candidates and pledge themselves to support and vote for the persons named in such petition and that they have not signed any other petition of nomination for the primary or for the general election for such office. The petitions of a candidate for any State, county, or municipal elective public office shall also include a functioning campaign e-mail address for the candidate.
In the case of a petition or petitions nominating electors of president and vice president of the United States, the names of the candidates for president and vice president for whom such electors are to vote may be included in the petition or petitions, but the petition or petitions shall not include the names of any candidates for president or vice president who have been nominated at a convention of a political party, as defined by this title.
The petition shall also state in not more than three words the designation of the party or principles which the candidates therein named represent, but such designation shall not contain the designation name, derivative, or any part thereof as a noun or an adjective of any political party entitled to participate in the primary election.
The petition shall also include the request that the names of the candidates and their designations of party or principles be printed upon the ballots to be used at the ensuing general election.
No such petition shall undertake to nominate any candidate who has accepted the nomination for the primary for such position.
Each petition shall be arranged to contain double spacing between the signature lines of the petition, so that each signer thereof is afforded sufficient space to provide his or her printed name, address and signature.
Any form of a petition of nomination, other than petitions for federal office, which is provided to candidates by the Secretary of State, the county clerk, or the municipal clerk shall contain the following notice: "Notice: All candidates are required by law to comply with the provisions of the 'New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act.' For further
information, please call (insert phone number of the Election Law
Enforcement Commission)."
(cf: P.L.1994, c.77, s.5)
2. R.S.19:23-7 is amended to read as follows:
19:23-7. Each such petition shall set forth that the signers thereof are qualified voters of the State, congressional district, county, or county election district, municipality, ward or election district, as the case may be, in which they reside and for which they desire to nominate candidates; that they are members of a political party (naming the same), and that they intend to affiliate with that political party at the ensuing election; that they indorse the person or persons named in their petition as candidate or candidates for nomination for the office or offices therein named, and that they request that the name of the person or persons therein mentioned be printed upon the official primary ballots of their political party as the candidate or candidates for such nomination. The petition shall further state the residence and post-office address of each person so indorsed, and shall certify that the person or persons so indorsed is or are legally qualified under the laws of this State to be nominated, and is or are a member or members of the political party named in the petition. The petitions of a candidate for any State, county, or municipal elective public office shall also include a functioning e-mail address for the candidate.
Accompanying the petition, each person indorsed therein shall file a certificate, stating that he is qualified for the office mentioned in the petition, that he is a member of the political party named therein, that he consents to stand as a candidate for nomination at the ensuing primary election of such political party, and that, if nominated, he consents to accept the nomination, to which shall be annexed the oath of allegiance prescribed in R.S.41:1-1, duly taken and subscribed by him before an officer authorized to take oaths in this State.
Each petition shall be arranged to contain double spacing between the signature lines of the petition, so that each signer thereof is afforded sufficient space to provide his or her printed name, address and signature.
Any form of a petition of nomination, other than petitions for federal office, which is provided to candidates by the Secretary of State, the county clerk, or the municipal clerk shall contain the following notice: "Notice: All candidates are required by law to comply with the provisions of the 'New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act.' For further information, please call (insert phone number of the Election Law Enforcement Commission)."
(cf: P.L.1994, c.77, s.9)
3. Section 7 of P.L.1995, c.278 (C.19:60-7) is amended to read as follows:
7. Each candidate to be voted upon at a school election shall be nominated directly by petition, and the procedures for such nomination shall, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of P.L.1995, c.278 (C.19:60-1 et al.), conform to the procedure for nominating candidates by direct petition under chapter 13 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.19:13-5, however, a petition of nomination for such office shall be signed by at least 10 persons, one of whom may be the candidate, and filed with the secretary of the board of education on or before four p.m. of the 50th day preceding the date of the April school election or with the county clerk on or before four p.m. of the last Monday in July preceding the November school election, as applicable. The signatures need not all appear upon a single petition and any number of petitions may be filed on behalf of any candidate but no petition shall contain the endorsement of more than one candidate. The petitions of a candidate for member of a board of education shall also include a functioning e-mail address for the candidate.
Any candidate may withdraw as a candidate in a school election by filing a notice in writing, signed by the candidate, of such withdrawal with the secretary of the board of education before the 44th day before the date of the April election or with the county clerk on the 60th day before the date of the November election, as applicable, and thereupon the name of that candidate shall be withdrawn by the secretary of the board of education and shall not be printed on the ballot.
A vacancy created by a declination of nomination or withdrawal by, or death of, a nominee, or in any other manner, shall be filled under the provisions of R.S.19:13-19.
Whenever written objection to a petition of nomination hereunder shall have been made and timely filed with the secretary of the board of education or with the county clerk, as may be appropriate, the board of education shall file its determination of the objection on or before the 44th day preceding the April school election or the county clerk shall file the clerk's determination of the objection on or before the 10th day after the last day for the filing of petitions for candidates seeking election as a member of a board of education at the November school election, as applicable. The last day upon which a candidate may file with the Superior Court a verified complaint setting forth any invasion or threatened invasion of the candidate's rights under the candidate's petition of nomination shall be the 46th day before the April election or the 12th day after the last day for the filing of petitions for candidates seeking election as a member of a board of education at the November election, as applicable. The last day upon which a candidate whose petition of nomination or any affidavit thereto is defective may amend such petition or affidavit shall be the 44th day before the April election or the 10th day after the last day for the filing of petitions for candidates seeking election as a member of a board of education at the November election, as applicable.
In each school district in which candidates for the office of member of a board of education will seek election at the November school election, the school business administrator thereof shall certify to the county clerk no later than the day of the holding of the primary election for the general election next occurring a statement designating the public offices to be filled at such election, and the number of such offices to be filled.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.172, s.1)
4. Section 4 of P.L.1981, c.379 (C.40:45-8) is amended to read as follows:
4. On or before the 64th day prior to a regular municipal election, the names of candidates for all elective offices shall be filed with the municipal clerk, in the following manner and form and subject to the following conditions:
a. The petition of nomination shall consist of individual certificates, equal in number to at least 1%, but in no event less than 25, of the registered voters of the municipality or the ward, as the case may be, and shall read substantially as follows:
"I, the undersigned, a registered voter of the municipality of .............., residing at ..................................... certify that I do hereby join in a petition of the nomination of .................................. whose residence is at .................................................. for the office of mayor (or councilman-at-large, or ward councilman of the ............ ward, or commissioner, or village trustee, as the case may be) to be voted for at the election to be held in the municipality on the ............, 20......., and I further certify that I know this candidate to be a registered voter, for the period required by law, of the municipality (and the ward, in the case of ward councilman) and a person of good moral character, and qualified, in my judgment, to perform the duties of the office, and I further certify that I have not signed more petitions or certificates of nomination than there are places to be filled for the above office.
Signed ......................................................... ."
The petition of nomination shall also include a functioning e-mail address for the candidate.
Any such petition of nomination which is provided to candidates by the municipal clerk shall contain the following notice: "Notice: All candidates are required by law to comply with the provisions of the 'New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act.' For further information, please call (insert phone number of the Election Law Enforcement Commission)."
b. Each petition signature shall be on a separate sheet of paper and shall bear the name and address of the petitioner. The candidate for office and his campaign manager shall make an oath before an officer competent to administer oaths that the statements made therein are true, and that each signature to the papers appended thereto is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, to their best knowledge and belief. The oath, signed by the candidate, shall constitute his acceptance of nomination and shall be annexed to the petition, together with the oath of his campaign manager, at the time the petition is submitted.
c. The municipal clerk shall immediately provide the Election Law Enforcement Commission with official certification of the filing or withdrawal of a petition of nomination.
d. A candidate shall be permitted to sign or circulate, or both sign and circulate, the petition required to nominate that candidate for elective public office in any municipality holding regular municipal elections.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.37, s.32)
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that a petition of nomination of a candidate for any State, county, school, or municipal elective public office must include a functioning e-mail address for the candidate.
This addition to the nominating petitions of such candidates would enhance the voters' access to those candidates, particularly first-time candidates, and allow voters and organizations to contact candidates' campaign.
Requires petitions of nomination of candidates for State, county, school, or municipal elective public office to include functioning e-mail addresses therefor.
