Bill Text: NJ S358 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Establishes database with certain information about individuals elected to public office in this State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-01-21 - Approved P.L.2019, c.377. [S358 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-S358-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 358

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION

 

 

Sponsored by:

Senator  RONALD L. RICE

District 28 (Essex)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes database with certain information about individuals elected to public office in this State.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As amended by the Senate on April 12, 2018.

  

An Act establishing a database with certain information about individuals elected to public office in this State and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

     1.    a.     There shall be established in the Division of Elections in the Department of State a database containing the contact information for every elected public official in this State, including the gender and race of the elected public official.

     b.    No later than the seventh day after an individual has been certified as elected to an elective public office in this State, including an individual selected to fill a vacancy in an elective  public office for the remainder of a term, the division shall transmit to the individual a form, developed by the Secretary of State, for completion that records: 1) the individual's contact information, including full name, and the mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the individual's elective public office, if any; 2) gender; and 3) race, using the same racial categories as required on the federal decennial census of the United States by the federal Bureau of the Census.

     The division shall coordinate with the clerks of each county ¹[, the secretary of each Type II regional and municipal school district, and the secretary of each special district in which elections are held] and municipality¹ to ¹[insure] ensure¹ that the form is transmitted to individuals elected to public offices in those ¹[instrumentalities] counties and municipalities, respectively¹.

     Each completed form shall be transmitted to the division by the elected individual by mail or electronic means no later than the 10th day following the receipt thereof.

     c.     The division shall use the information from the forms received pursuant to subsection b. of this section, to establish separate databases of information on elected individuals, with at least one database sorted by gender and at least one sorted by race.

     The information in each database shall be: 1) reviewed and updated by the division on a regular basis, but not less than annually, with the assistance and cooperation of the county ¹and municipal¹ clerks ¹[, school board secretaries in Type II districts, and the secretaries of special districts in which elections are held]¹; and 2) available to the public at a convenient location on the website of the division.

     ¹d.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to an individual elected to a position in a special district, on a board of education, or on a board of fire commissioners.¹

 

     2.    This act shall take effect 90 days following the date of enactment, but the Secretary of State and the Division of Elections shall take such action in advance of that date as may be appropriate.