Bill > S2598

Introduced Session

With the continued healthcare crisis of coronavirus and the as-yet to be discovered vaccine or cure, millions of active registered voters in New Jersey will be mailed a mail-in ballot for the rescheduled July 7, 2020 primary election, pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order No. 144 (2020). Millions of voters will be voting by mail for the first time and simple mistakes will happen, but that should not nullify their votes. In the 2019 general election, over 2100 voters simply did not sign their Certificate of Mail-in Voter, thereby resulting in their votes not counting. Over 1500 voters were denied their votes due to signature mismatch. Even when voters who have familiarity with voting by mail, such as voters living in primarily vote by mail states such as Washington and Colorado, mistakes still happen. But the voters in those states have the ability to provide a cure for their ballots. This bill mirrors legislation in those states giving voters the ability to provide a cure for their ballot. The purpose of this bill is to make voting more accessible, minimize the likelihood of disenfranchisement, and protect a constitutional right from abridgement for what may be a purely administrative oversight. This bill also aims to update current law to make use of existing technology for allowing voters to check on the status of their ballot. Under the ballot curing provisions, the bill provides that mail-in ballots would not be rejected due to any defect arising out of or relating to the preparation or mailing of the ballot or envelope that was not reasonably caused by the voters, such as a torn envelope and missing or insufficient glue to allow the ballot to be sealed. The bill also requires the county board of elections to, promptly after receiving each mail-in ballot, undertake the following procedures and requirements concerning the acceptance or rejection of each mail-in ballot: (1) record in the Statewide voter registration system and the free-access system the acceptance or rejection of the voter's ballot. Where the voter's ballot is rejected, a code would be input and displayed showing the reason; (2) in rejecting a voter's ballot, notify the voter within 72 hours of the receipt of the ballot or, if the voter voted by provisional ballot, within 48 hours of the closing of the polls, by email, mail, or phone with the reason for rejection. The voter would have up to 5 days after the close of the polls on Election Day to provide a cure for their ballot. The county board of elections would provide an explanation giving the options for the voter to provide the cure to their rejected ballot. To the extent the county board of elections cannot provide such explanation and give the voter sufficient and reasonable time to provide a cure for their ballot within the deadlines for the counting of ballots as established by law, the county board of elections would seek an order from a Judge of the Superior Court to reasonably extend the deadlines consistent with this State's liberal interpretation of election law statutes so as to prevent voter disenfranchisement; (3) in cases of rejected ballots, retain the voter's outer envelope, inner envelope, self-certification certificate, and mail-in ballot in a bundle unique to each voter for a period of two years; and (4) where the rejection is due to signature mismatch, missing signature, or otherwise related to the questionable or inability to verify the voter's ballot by way of signature, the county board of elections shall allow and accept other methods from the voter to confirm their vote. These methods may include the voter providing a new signature, signing an affidavit attesting that they were the voter who sent in the mail-in ballot, and providing any form of identification that would satisfy the requirement of voter verification. The bill directs the Secretary of State to prepare educational materials regarding the ballot curing provision that all county boards of elections persons handling ballots would be required to read or view prior to the election. The materials would provide clear information regarding the standards for acceptance and rejection of mail-in ballots and the safe holding of all materials in the case of rejection. In addition, the bill expands the function of the free-access system that allows voters to check on the status of their ballot, to include information not only about provisional ballots, but also for all other mail-in ballots. Under the bill, a link to the free-access system would be prominently displayed on the New Jersey Division of Elections website under a "Track My Ballot" user portal. The free-access system would record the date that the mail-in ballot was mailed; the date that the overseas ballot was mailed or transmitted via electronic mail; the date the ballot was received; the notation that the ballot was "Accepted" or "Rejected;" the code for rejection; the date and method that the board of elections notified the voter (mail, email, or phone) and, in cases where the ballot was initially "Rejected" and the voter provided a cure, the date when the ballot was "Accepted." The free-access system would also provide a legend containing all the codes used for rejection and their explanation for rejection. The system would provide voters with the methods to cure the ballot, and the deadline of 5 days after the closing of the polls on Election Day to provide the cure. Finally, the free-access system would provide a publicly viewable macro-report of the total number of rejected ballots by county and by code along with the totals for votes cast by mail-in ballot, overseas ballots, and total ballots cast. This report would be kept and made available on the Secretary of State's website for a period of 10 years. The bill also expands the contents of the voter information notice, also known as a voter's bill of rights, to include mail-in voting and ballot curing opportunities and procedures.

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Nia Gill (D)*,  Vin Gopal (D)*,  Paul Sarlo (D)*,  Dawn Addiego (D),  Linda Greenstein (D),  Nellie Pou (D),  Teresa Ruiz (D),  Troy Singleton (D),  Shirley Turner (D), 

Substituted by A4276 (2R) (on 08/27/2020)