Bill > S2865

Introduced Session

This bill changes certain deadlines for the mailing of mail-in ballots to voters before an election; requires the number of ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted to be posted on the websites of the county boards of elections and Division of Elections; permits a count board of elections to establish a pickup schedule for mail-in ballots that are deposited in ballot drop boxes; and requires the Secretary of State to send a confirmation notice to a voter that changes their party affiliation when updating an existing voter requisition at the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC). Under the bill, the deadline for the preparation of the official primary and general elections ballot for printing is changed from the 50th to the 45th day before an election. The bill also changes the commencement of the mailing of mail-in ballot for primary and general elections from the 45th to the 38th before an election. The bill provides an exception that ballots for a federal primary or federal general election are to be ready for the printer on or before the 50th day prior to such election and mailed to a uniformed or overseas voter not later than the 45th day before such election. The bill also clarifies that nothing in the bill is to be construed to hinder, limit, or interfere with the ability of a county clerk to comply with the federal "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act." The bill also requires that at the close of the polls on election day and until all eligible ballots are counted thereafter, each county clerk, in consultation with the county board of elections of that county, must list on the county clerk's Internet site in an easily accessible location the number of ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted. Each county clerk must provide the ballot tabulations by the following categories: the number of early in-person ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted; the number of vote-by-mail ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted; the number of provisional ballots that have been received, have counted, and are remaining to be counted; and the number of election day ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted. Under the bill, the county clerk must provide reporting of the ballot tabulations by the listed categories until all eligible ballots are counted. The bill requires that ballot tabulations provided by a county clerk and the Secretary of State must include a date and time stamp designating the date and time in which the county clerk or county board of elections, as appropriate, stopped tabulating the number of ballots represented in the totals on that particular list. The bill provides that each county clerk must send the ballot tabulation by the same categories to the Secretary of State by 11:59 P.M. and each day after the election by 8:00 P.M. until all eligible ballots are counted. Upon receipt of the number of ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted by each category from each county board of elections, the Secretary of State is required to provide in an easily accessible location on the Internet site of the Division of Elections the total number of ballots for the State and for each county that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted by the same categories. Under the bill, the Secretary of State must provide the ballot tabulations each day after the election by 9:00 P.M until all eligible ballots are counted. The bill also provides that each county clerk and the Division of Elections must note on their respective Internet site that the number of ballots that have been received, have been counted, and are remaining to be counted are unofficial ballot tabulations and are subject to change as each county clerk receive and process ballots that have been cast in the election. The bill provides that a county board of elections may establish a pickup schedule to retrieve mail-in ballots deposited in ballot drop boxes and requires that such schedule be consistent with the ballot drop box guidelines established by the Secretary of State. The bill provides that if an applicant at the MVC chooses to update an existing voter registration, the applicant would receive a confirmation notice from the Secretary of State noting that change. Under current law, every mail-in ballot that bears a postmark date before or of the day of the election and that is received by the county board within 144 hours (six days) after the time of the closing of the polls for the election is considered valid and shall be canvassed. This bill would change that postmarked ballot acceptance deadline to within 96 hours after election day (4 days). Under current law, mail-in ballot inner envelopes are prohibited from being opened prior to election day. County boards of elections would be permitted to begin opening the inner envelopes for each mail-in ballot and canvassing the ballot no earlier than five days prior to the day of the election. If a county board of elections opts to begin opening the inner envelopes for mail-in ballots and canvassing the mail-in ballots from the inner envelopes prior to the day of an election, the county clerk would have to report the unofficial ballot tabulations of those mail-in ballots on the county clerk's Internet site as soon as practicable after the closing of the polls on election day. The bill requires that the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations to prevent certain persons from obtaining knowledge of the unofficial results of ballots cast for any candidate for public office or any public question submitted to the voters until after the closing of the polls on election day and prohibit the tally or tabulation of results prior to the opening of the polls on election day. The bill would also, whenever the reporting requirements listed in the bill would cause a voter's privacy to be violated, the election results would be reported in a manner that maintains the privacy of the vote.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Joe Cryan (D)*,  Andrew Zwicker (D)*,  Nellie Pou (D), 

Substituted by A3822 (5R) (on 06/29/2022)

Official Document