The bill amends New Jersey's election laws to enhance voter participation in political party primaries by allowing registered voters to change their party affiliation at the polling place on primary election day. This change enables voters to cast their ballots in the primary of a different political party than their registered affiliation. Additionally, mail-in voters will have the option to complete a primary ballot for a party other than their registered affiliation, and submitting that ballot will update their party affiliation. The Secretary of State is tasked with preparing and distributing political party affiliation declaration forms to facilitate these changes.

The legislation also removes the previous 55-day deadline for changing political party membership, thereby simplifying the process for voters wishing to switch affiliations. It clarifies that voters must be considered members of a political party to vote in that party's primary, with exceptions for newly registered voters. The bill aims to increase voter participation in primary elections while ensuring that voters can only submit one primary ballot. These changes are set to take effect on January 1st following the bill's enactment.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 19:23-45.1, 19:31-6.4, 19:31-13.2, 19:62-7, 19:63-8, 19:63-11, 19:63-17, 19:63-22