New Jersey-2018-S3087-Introduced

An Act concerning the availability of election district, county district, municipal ward boundary, and election results data to the public, amending various parts of the statutory law, and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Voting Precinct Transparency Act."

b. The Secretary of State shall make available on the official website of the Division of Elections in the Department of State the election district, county district, and municipal ward boundaries required to be filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1976, c.83 (C.19:4-16), section 121 of P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-121), and section 7 of P.L.1981, c.496 (C.40:44-15), respectively. The boundary files shall be in ESRI Shapefile format and available for download by the public free of charge.

c. Within 90 days following the certification of the results of any special, primary, school, municipal, or general election, and of any public question voted by the voters at an election, pursuant to Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, the Secretary of State shall also make available on the official website as provided under subsection b. of this section a table or database containing the election results compiled at the election districts level. The election results table or database shall be in a single file, in a comma-delimited values format, and shall contain a unique identifier field for each election district that matches the unique identifier field for that district in the election districts Shapefile. The election results table or database shall be available for download by the public free of charge.

d. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the New Jersey Office of Information Technology, Office of Geographic Information Systems, shall issue technical guidelines governing the preparation, maintenance, and submission of boundary files and election results files deemed necessary or desirable to accomplish the provisions of this section.

2. Section 7 of P.L.1976, c.83 (C.19:4-16) is amended to read as follows:

7. a. The county board shall cause to have prepared and shall maintain an up-to-date suitable map of the county and of each constituent municipality clearly delineating the geographical boundaries of each election district contained therein and of the ward, legislative, freeholder, Congressional or other district or part thereof, in which each election district is contained. A word description of such geographical boundaries shall be attached to each such map.

The county board shall file copies of such maps and descriptions in the following manner: three copies to the Secretary of State, one copy to the county clerk, and one copy to the clerk of each affected municipality. Within 30 days of any changes in the boundaries of any of the aforementioned districts, the county board shall file revised maps and accompanying revised descriptions in the same manner.

Said maps and descriptions shall be public records and shall be available for inspection by the public in the offices of the Secretary of State, county clerks and municipal clerks during normal office hours. Copies shall be made available to the public for a fee necessary to cover the cost of reproduction.

In order to effectuate the purposes of this act, the Secretary of State shall establish such rules and regulations governing the preparation, maintenance, distribution and filing of said maps and descriptions as he deems necessary or desirable.

b. In addition to the maps and descriptions required to be filed with the Secretary of State under subsection a. of this section, the county board shall file with the Secretary of State the election district boundaries in ESRI Shapefile format in accordance with section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1976, c.83, s.7)

3. Section 121 of P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-121) is amended to read as follows:

121. a. Within 30 days after the adoption of one of said optional plans, the district commissioners shall make and file their report and certificate over at least three of their signatures setting forth and properly describing the district boundaries fixed and determined, to which there shall be annexed a map of the county with the district boundaries clearly marked thereon.

The report so certified shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county, and a copy thereof shall also be filed with the Secretary of State.

b. In addition to the description of the district boundaries and map required to be filed with the Secretary of State under subsection a. of this section, the district commissioners shall file with the Secretary of State the district boundaries in ESRI Shapefile format in accordance with section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1972, c.154, s.121)

4. Section 7 of P.L.1981, c.496 (C.40:44-15) is amended to read as follows:

7. a. Within 30 days following their initial meeting pursuant to section 5 of this act, the ward commissioners shall file their report, certified by at least three of their signatures, setting forth and properly describing the ward boundaries fixed and determined. There shall be annexed to the report a map of the municipality with the ward boundaries clearly marked thereon.

The report so certified shall be filed in the office of the county clerk, and copies shall be filed with the Secretary of State and in the office of the municipal clerk.

b. In addition to the description of the ward boundaries and map required to be filed with the Secretary of State under subsection a. of this section, the ward commissioners shall file with the Secretary of State the ward boundaries in ESRI Shapefile format in accordance with section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1981, c.496, s.7)

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This act, to be known as the "Voting Precinct Transparency Act," requires the filing of election district, county district, and municipal ward boundary data with the Secretary of State for posting and download online. The bill also requires the secretary to post as a single file a table or database containing the election results at the election districts level, in a manner that matches the election districts boundary data.

Under current law, all municipalities in New Jersey are divided into election districts for election administration and voting purposes. For counties and municipalities that have adopted an optional charter as a form of government, current law also provides that those counties and municipalities may choose in their charter to be divided into county districts or municipal wards for the purpose of electing members of the governing body to represent those districts or wards. Currently, Essex, Atlantic, and Hudson counties are divided into county districts from which voters elect some or all of the members of the county governing body. Of the State's 565 municipalities, about 64 have chosen to establish municipal wards from which voters elect some or all of the members of the municipal governing body.

This bill requires each districting authority (county board of elections for election districts, district commissioners for county districts, and ward commissioners for municipal wards) to file with the Secretary of State the election district, county district, and municipal ward boundary data, as appropriate, in ESRI Shapefile format. This file format is widely used with geographic information systems software. The Secretary of State is directed to make this boundary data available on the official website of the Division of Elections for download by the public free of charge. The bill also requires the secretary, within 90 days following the certification of the results of any election, or public question voted on by the voters, to make available on the same website a table or database containing the election results compiled at the election districts level. The election results table or database would be in a single file, in a comma-delimited values format, and would contain a unique identifier field for each election district that matches the unique identifier field for that district in the election districts Shapefile. The election results table or database would also be available for download by the public free of charge.

The bill directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the New Jersey Office of Information Technology, Office of Geographic Information Systems, to issue technical guidelines governing the preparation, maintenance, and submission of boundary files and election results files deemed necessary or desirable to accomplish the provisions of the bill.