Bill Text: NJ S2776 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires county board of elections to mail notice to mail-in voters after each election confirming ballot was received and counted.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-20 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S2776 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2776-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Requires county board of elections to mail or email notice to mail-in voters after each election confirming ballot was received and counted.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain notifications to mail-in voters and amending P.L.2009, c.79.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 23 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-23) is amended to read as follows:
23. a. As soon as practicable after each election, the board of elections shall mark in the Statewide voter registration system and all duplicate voting records to show that mail-in ballots were delivered or forwarded to the respective registered voters. For each mail-in ballot that has been voted, received and counted, the board of elections shall also, by reference to the certificates removed from the inner envelopes of such ballots, place the word "Voted" in the space provided in the Statewide voter registration system and duplicate voting record for recording the ballot number of the voter's ballot in the election. In the case of the primary election for the general election, the board shall also cause to be noted in the proper space of the Statewide voter registration system or other record of voting form the first three letters of the name of the political party primary in which such ballot was voted. The record contained in the Statewide voter registration system and of voting forms in the original permanent registration binders shall be conformed to the foregoing entries in the duplicate forms.
b. Upon marking the voters' record as provided under subsection a. of this section, for each mail-in ballot that has been voted, received and counted, the board of elections shall also mail or email a notice to each respective voter confirming that the voter's mail-in ballot was received and counted. The mail or email notice required to be sent to a voter under this subsection shall be in addition to, and shall not replace, the availability of the free-access system established by section 5 of P.L.2004, c.88 (C.19:61-5) allowing a voter to ascertain whether a mail-in ballot or an application therefor was received, accepted, or rejected, and the reason for the rejection.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.134, s.57)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the county board of elections in each county to send a notice by mail or email to each mail-in voter after each election, confirming that the voter's ballot was received and counted. Under current law, county boards of elections are required to update the Statewide Voter Registration System with that information for each voter after each election. Current law also establishes a free-access system that mail-in voters can use to ascertain whether a mail-in ballot or an application therefor was received, accepted, or rejected, and the reason for the rejection. The mail or email notice required by this bill would not replace such free access system.
