Bill > A548

Introduced Session

This bill requires that county clerks receive information on deaths in the county in addition to the commissioner of registration and provides additional ways for deceased voters to be transferred from the active file to the death file of the Statewide voter registration system. Under current law, each month, the health officer or other officer in charge of records of death in each municipality is required to file with the commissioner of registration of the county in which the municipality is located the age, date of death, and the names and addresses of all persons 18 years of age or older who have died within such municipality during the previous month. In addition, the State registrar of vital statistics, the Commissioner of the Department of Health, and funeral directors across the State are required to file death certificates. If the commissioner of registration finds sufficient evidence that the voter is deceased, the deceased voter's record is transferred from the active file to the death file of the Statewide voter registration system. This bill requires the appropriate officers or State registrar to also file this information with the county clerk of the county. The county clerk will undertake an investigation similar to that of the commissioner of registration and transmit the findings to the commissioner. If sufficient evidence is found, the commissioner will transfer the record from the active file to the death file. This bill also provides additional ways for deceased voters' records to be transferred to the death file. Under the bill, the next of kin of a deceased voter will be permitted to submit, along with the death certificate, a notarized form created by the Secretary of State to the commissioner of registration, or the county clerk of the county in which the deceased voter resided, to have a deceased family member transferred from the active file to the death file. If the form is submitted to the county clerk, the clerk would transmit the form to the commissioner. In addition, the Director of the Division of Veterans' Healthcare Services or an administrator of a nursing home facility would be required to submit a form created by the Secretary of State to notify the commissioner of registration of a deceased resident and have the resident transferred from the active file to the death file after receipt of that person's death certificate. Funeral home directors in the State would also be required to submit a form along with the person's death certificate to the commissioner or the county clerk.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Bob Auth (R)*,  Aura Dunn (R),  Dawn Fantasia (R),  Michael Inganamort (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document