Bill > A728

Introduced Session

This bill requires each correctional facility in this State as well as private facilities, often referred to as halfway houses, to provide each inmate with a voter information packet upon the inmate's release. The packet is to include: 1) voter registration forms and voting instructions; and 2) a form certifying that the inmate was informed both verbally and in writing of the right to vote. Upon an inmate's release, an official employed by the correctional facility or an employee of the private facility and the inmate are required to sign a copy of the form. The bill requires each facility to maintain a copy of the form on record and provide a signed copy to the inmate. Finally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Corrections to: 1) provide a sufficient supply of voter information packets to every correctional facility and private facility; 2) provide that voter information packets be made available in English and Spanish to facilities which are located in any county in which bilingual sample ballots are required to be provided under current law; 3) inform each administrator or superintendent of a correctional facility or the operator of a private facility that they are not to seek to influence an inmate's political preference or party affiliation or display a political preference or party affiliation; and 4) conduct an annual audit to ensure the correctional facilities and private facilities are providing voter information packets to each inmate, as required by the bill. Currently, an individual who is convicted of a crime of the first through fourth degree is prohibited from voting in any primary, municipal, special, or general election while serving a sentence for that crime and while on parole or probation as a result of that conviction.

Committee Categories

Gordon Johnson (D)*,  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee (on 01/14/2020)