Sponsored by:
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Directs Secretary of State to establish election incident reporting and complaint database; requires certain telephone numbers be provided with voter instructions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning an election incident reporting and complaint database, and amending P.L.2005, c.149 and P.L.2009, c.79 and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statues.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. The Secretary of State shall establish an election incident reporting and complaint database to document civil rights violations, voter fraud, or other incidents or complaints related to the conduct of an election in this State. In real time during the conduct of an election, the Secretary of State shall compile any incidents or complaints submitted to the Department of State or to county election officials in a manner and form the secretary deems appropriate.
b. At a minimum, the reported incidents or complaints shall be categorized by the following:
(1) the location, if any, and date of the incident or complaint;
(2) the type of incident or complaint; and
(3) the action, if any, taken in response to the incident or complaint.
The Secretary of State shall provide the complied information to the appropriate officials, including, but not limited to, the New Jersey Attorney General and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in a manner and form consistent with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statues and applicable federal law.
c. Not later than 30 days following the date of the closing of the polls, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a report detailing the total number of incidents and complaints during the conduct of that election, including the action, if any, taken in response to an incident or complaint. The Secretary of State shall also make this report available to the public on the department s Internet site in an easily accessible location.
2. Section 1 of P.L.2005, c.149 (C.19:12-7.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. A county board of elections shall have posted a voter information notice, which shall be referred to as a voter's bill of rights, in a conspicuous location in each polling place before the opening of the polls on the day of any election.
The notice shall contain:
the date of the election and the hours during which polling places will be open;
a statement that sample ballots are available at the polling place for review by the voter;
instruction for the use of the voting machine in that polling place and an explanation of what instructions for voting are available at the polling place for the voter;
instruction for a voter who is voting for the first time;
instruction for a voter who is required to provide identification pursuant to the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002" and R.S.19:15-17 prior to casting a vote;
instruction on how to cast a vote if the voter cannot be present at a polling place on the day of the election;
an explanation of the right of the voter to vote in privacy, regardless of the voter's physical abilities;
an explanation of the right of the voter to a provisional ballot, including in the event that a mail-in ballot has been applied for and not received or not transmitted to the county board of elections before the day of any election, and the other circumstances under which a voter has a right to a provisional ballot;
an explanation of the right of the voter to receive a replacement ballot for a ballot that has been spoiled, destroyed, lost or never received;
an explanation of the right of the voter to ask for and receive assistance in voting;
an explanation of the right of the voter to take a reasonable amount of time in casting a vote on a voting machine;
an explanation of the right of the voter to bring written material into the polling place for the voter's personal use in casting a vote;
instruction on how to contact the appropriate officials if a voter's right to vote or right to otherwise participate in the electoral process has been challenged or violated;
instruction on how to contact the appropriate officials if a voter suspects voter fraud and general information on federal and State laws that prohibit acts of fraud or misrepresentation and the penalties for those acts;
the telephone number of the United States Attorney s Office Election Hotline, the New Jersey Election Hotline, and county election officials of the county;
an explanation of the right of the voter to confidentially discover the status of their ballot using the "Track My Ballot" user portal;
an explanation that "All ballots are counted and your vote remains anonymous;"
an explanation of the right of the voter that if their ballot was rejected, a notice will be issued to the voter within 24 hours after a decision is made to reject the ballot. The voter will have up to 48 hours prior to the date for the final certification of the results of the election to provide a cure for their ballot;
an explanation giving the
options for the voter to provide the cure to their rejected ballot;
an explanation that no voters shall be intimidated or otherwise unduly influenced by political insignia while voting. No person shall wear, display, sell, give or provide any political or campaign slogan, badge, button or other insignia associated with any political party or candidate to be worn at or within one hundred feet of the polls or within the polling place or room, on any primary, general or special election day or on any commission government election day, except the badge furnished by the county board as provided by law. This includes any political gear representing the campaign slogans, logos, or depictions or representations of any political party or candidate such as merchandise sold directly from a political party, campaign, candidate, or by third parties and vendors representing any political party or campaign or candidate. A person violating any of these provisions is guilty of a disorderly persons offense and will not be permitted on the premises and can only return to vote after the removal of prohibited political insignia; and
such other statement, instruction or explanation the Secretary of State may deem appropriate to ensure the full and knowledgeable participation of the voter in the process.
The requirement to post this notice in each polling place shall not replace, supersede or void any other requirement set forth in law for the posting of information in each polling place apart from the voter information notice. The poster promoting the use of voting by mail prepared and distributed by the Secretary of State pursuant to R.S.19:8-6 shall be displayed next to or as close as may be possible to the voter information notice.
b. The Secretary of State shall prescribe the form and specific content of the voter information notice, which may be comprised of more than one page. If the notice is comprised of more than one page, each