Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman ROBERT D. CLIFTON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Dunn, Jimenez, Eulner and Piperno
SYNOPSIS
Requires State to pay for costs to conduct new election if the State is at fault for errors during initial election that requires new election to be held.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning errors in the conduct of elections and supplementing Title 19 Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, if an election is invalidated by a judge of the Superior Court and the judge determines that the State is at fault for an error or errors having occurred in that election, the State shall reimburse the county or municipality, as appropriate, in which the election was held for the costs incurred by the county or municipality to conduct a new election in that county or municipality. A county or municipality, as appropriate, shall be reimbursed under this section upon the application for reimbursement by the governing body of the county or municipality, as appropriate, to the Secretary of State and approval of the application by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and be retroactive to November 1, 2021.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State to pay for the costs incurred to conduct a new election if the State is at fault for an error or errors during the initial election that requires a new election to be held.
Under the bill, if an election is invalidated by a judge of the Superior Court and the judge determines that the State is at fault for an error or errors having occurred in that election, the State must reimburse the county or municipality, as appropriate, in which the election was held for the costs incurred by the county or municipality to conduct a new election in that county or municipality. The bill provides that a county or municipality, as appropriate, must be reimbursed under the bill upon the application for reimbursement by the governing body of the county or municipality, as appropriate, to the Secretary of State and approval of the application by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury.
In the November 2021 election, a judge of the Superior Court invalidated the election for a seat on the township council in Old Bridge, NJ after determining that some voters received the wrong ballot and voted. The Superior Court judge found that, due to an error in the Statewide Voter Registration System that placed certain voters in the wrong ward, the New Jersey Division of Elections was at fault for the election mishap. It is the sponsor’s belief that, since the State was at fault for the election mishap, the State rather than the county should pay to conduct a new election.