Bill Text: NJ S62 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires commissioner of registration to move voters with undeliverable mail-in ballots to inactive file; removes such inactive voters from Statewide voter registration system following failure to vote in two consecutive federal general elections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-11 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S62 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S62-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Oroho, Testa and Holzapfel
SYNOPSIS
Requires commissioner of registration to move voters with undeliverable mail-in ballots to inactive file; removes such inactive voters from Statewide voter registration system following failure to vote in two consecutive federal general elections.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning mail-in ballots returned as undeliverable and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any other law or regulation to the contrary, any mail-in ballot that is sent to a qualified voter and that is returned to the county clerk as undeliverable and forwarded to the commissioner of registration shall be compiled by the commissioner and noted in the Statewide voter registration system following any election in the State. The commissioner of registration shall place any voter whose mail-in ballot was returned as undeliverable into the inactive file. If a voter placed in the inactive file, pursuant to this subsection, fails to vote in two consecutive federal general elections, the commissioner of registration shall take the necessary steps to remove the voter from the Statewide voter registration system and transfer the voter to the deleted file, pursuant to the provisions of R.S.19:31-19.
The commissioner of registration shall retain, for two years, all mail-in ballots returned as undeliverable.
b. The commissioner of registration shall send a notice to a mail-in ballot voter, no more than five days following:
(1) the voter's placement in the inactive file;
(2) the commissioner's decision to take the necessary steps to remove the voter from the Statewide voter registration system; and
(3) the voter's removal from the Statewide voter registration system and transfer to the deleted file.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the commissioner of registration to move voters with undeliverable mail-in ballots to the inactive file and remove such inactive voters from the Statewide voter registration system following failure to vote in two consecutive federal general elections.
Under current law, any mail-in ballot returned for any reason is forwarded to the commissioner of registration, who notes the return in the voter record of that voter. This bill requires that a mail-in ballot returned as undeliverable to the county be forwarded to the commissioner of registration and noted in the Statewide voter registration system. The commissioner will compile a list of the voters and place those voters in the inactive file. If a voter in the inactive file fails to vote in two consecutive federal general elections, the commissioner will take the necessary steps to begin the process for the removal of the voter from the Statewide voter registration system and transfer to the deleted file. The commissioner would be required to send notice to a mail-in ballot voter following the voter's placement in the inactive file due to a mail-in ballot returned as undeliverable, the decision of the commissioner to begin the process for removal from the Statewide voter registration system, and the removal of the voter from the Statewide voter registration system and transfer to the deleted file.
