Sponsored by:
Senator ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Gopal and Turner
SYNOPSIS
Establishes ranked-choice voting procedure for elections for Governor, State Senate, State General Assembly, United States Senate and House of Representatives, and presidential primaries and general elections for electors for United States President and Vice-President.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning ranked-choice voting for certain State and federal elections and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, primary elections and general elections for the offices of Governor, member of the New Jersey Senate, member of the New Jersey General Assembly, member of the United States Senate, and member of the United States House of Representatives, and presidential primaries and general elections for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, shall be conducted using ranked-choice voting, an election method in which voters rank candidates in order of their preference and the ballots are counted in rounds and the votes or fractions thereof are distributed to candidates according to the preferences marked on each ballot, in accordance with the process established under this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
2. As used in this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Continuing candidate means any candidate that has not been defeated or elected.
Election threshold means the number of votes sufficient for a candidate to be elected, which shall be 33 percent of the votes counting for candidates in an election for member of the New Jersey General Assembly, plus one, disregarding any fractions, and 50 percent of the votes counting for candidates in an election for Governor, member of the New Jersey Senate, member of the United States Senate, or member of the United States House of Representatives, plus one.
Exhausted ballot means a ballot that is not counted for any continuing candidate because the ballot (1) does not rank any continuing candidates, (2) contains an overvote by ranking more than one candidate as the highest-ranked continuing candidate, or (3) contains two or more consecutive skipped rankings prior to its highest-ranked continuing candidate.
Highest-ranked continuing candidate means the candidate assigned to the highest ranking order on a ballot that is not an exhausted ballot.
Ranking order means the number available to be assigned by a voter to a candidate to express the voters choice for that candidate, with the number 1 being the highest ranking order, followed by the number 2, and then the number 3, and so on.
Round means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation beginning with paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 4 of this act (C. ) for an election to the office of Governor, member of the New Jersey Senate, member of the United States Senate, or member of the United States House of Representatives, and for a presidential primary election or a general election for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, or paragraph (1) of subsection b. of section 4 of this act (C. ) for an election to the office member of the New Jersey General Assembly.
Surplus means the total number of votes cast for an elected candidate to the office of member of the New Jersey General Assembly in excess of the election threshold.
Surplus fraction means the proportion of each vote to be transferred when a surplus of an elected candidate is transferred, which shall be calculated by dividing the surplus by the total votes cast for the elected candidate, using the formula surplus fraction = (surplus of an elected candidate) / (total votes cast for the elected candidate) calculated to four decimal places, ignoring any remainder.
Transfer value means the fraction of a vote that a transferred ballot will contribute to the next ranked continuing candidate on that ballot in an election for member of the New Jersey General Assembly, with each ballot beginning with a transfer value of 1, with the transfer value of a vote cast for an elected candidate calculated by multiplying the surplus fraction by its current value, calculated to four decimal places, ignoring any remainder, and with the transfer value of a vote cast for a defeated candidate being equal to its current value.
3. In any election conducted by ranked-choice voting pursuant to this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the ballot shall be designed to allow voters to rank candidates in ranking order, including write-in candidates. The ballot shall allow voters to assign a ranking order to each qualified candidate on the ballot. In the event that the voting equipment cannot feasibly accommodate a ballot containing a number of rankings equal to the number of qualified candidates, the ballot may be designed to allow a voter to rank the maximum number allowed by the voting equipment, provided the ballot shall allow the voter to rank at least six candidates. The ballot shall not interfere with a voters ability to rank write-in candidates.
4. a. In an election for the office of Governor, member of the New Jersey Senate, member of the United States Senate, member of the United States House of Representatives, and in a presidential primary or a general election for electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, the ranked-choice voting tabulation shall be conducted pursuant to this subsection, and shall proceed in rounds, sequentially, as follows:
(1) each ballot shall count as one vote for the highest-ranked continuing candidate on that ballot. If a candidate has more than 50 percent of the votes, that candidate is elected and the tabulation is complete;
(2) if two or fewer continuing candidates remain, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected, and the tabulation is complete;
(3) if more than two continuing candidates remain, the continuing candidate with the fewest number of votes is defeated, and a new round begins with paragraph (1) of this subsection.
b. In an election for the office of member of the New Jersey General Assembly, the ranked-choice voting tabulation shall be conducted pursuant to this subsection. If, in the initial tabulation, the number of continuing candidates is less than or equal to the number of offices to be filled for the New Jersey General Assembly in the legislative district, then all continuing candidates are elected and the tabulation is complete. Otherwise, each round shall proceed sequentially, until the tabulation is complete, as follows:
(1) each ballot shall count, at its current transfer value, for the highest-ranked continuing candidate on that ballot. If the sum of the number of elected candidates and the number of continuing candidates is equal to the sum of one and the number of offices to be elected, then the candidate with the fewest votes is defeated, all other continuing candidates are elected, and th