Sponsored by:
Senator ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires periodic reporting of election results on night of primary and general election and until final tally thereafter.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the reporting of election results and amending P.L.2018, c.110.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2018, c.110 (C.19:52-3.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. [The] a. On the day of each primary and general election, the district boards of election at each polling place shall create and publicly display a notice containing an [official] unofficial count of the cumulative number of voters who have voted at each [precinct] election district, indicating the number of voters who have voted at the election district using a voting machine or voting equipment and the number of voters who have voted using a provisional ballot. The first notice shall be produced two hours from the opening of the polls and updated every two hours thereafter until the time the polls close, with the final unofficial count to be posted as soon as practicable after the closing of the polls.
b. (1) By 11:59 P.M. on the day of each primary and general election, and by 9 P.M. of every day thereafter until all eligible ballots have been counted and the election is certified, each county clerk, in consultation with the county board of elections of that county, shall list in an easily accessible location on the county clerk’s Internet site an unofficial report detailing the number and types of ballots that have been received, that have been counted, that remain to be counted, and the number of mail-in ballots that have yet to be received by the county board of elections or that remain outstanding in that election. The reports required by this subsection shall include a date and time stamp designating the date and time of each report. Each report shall detail, at the election district, ward, municipal, and county levels, the unofficial election results using the following categories:
(a) for the in-person early voting period, the number of early voting machines or voting equipment deployed, the number of early voting machines or voting equipment remaining to be closed at the conclusion of early voting each day, the total number of votes cast during the early voting period, the number of provisional ballots cast during the early voting period, and the number of those provisional ballots counted;
(b) for the election day vote, the number of election day voting machines or voting equipment deployed, the number of election day voting machines or voting equipment remaining to be closed at the conclusion of voting on election day, the total number of votes cast in person on election day, the number of provisional ballots cast on election day, and the number of those provisional ballots counted; and
(c) for the vote-by-mail vote, the number of vote-by-mail ballots that have been issued, received, counted, that remain to be counted, and that have yet to be received or remain outstanding in that election.
(2) Each county clerk, in consultation with the county board of elections of that county, shall send to the Secretary of State the reports required to be created and posted pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection at the time of each posting. Upon receiving each report, the Secretary of State shall provide in an easily accessible location on the Internet site of the Division of Elections the county by county and Statewide totals for each category included in the reports. The county by county and Statewide totals required to be created and posted under this paragraph shall include a date and time stamp designating the date and time of the posting.
(3) With each report and posting required pursuant to this subsection, each county clerk and the Division of Elections shall note on their respective Internet sites that the reports and postings are unofficial and subject to change as each county clerk and county board of elections, as appropriate, receive and process ballots that have been cast in the election. The Secretary of State, in consultation with county clerks and county boards of elections, shall promulgate uniform guidelines for all county clerks to follow in creating the reports and postings required by this subsection.
(4) Whenever the reporting requirements of this subsection would cause a voter’s privacy to be violated, the election results shall be reported in a manner that maintains the privacy of the vote, provided that the election results posted on the respective websites shall contain a disclosure stating that the results reported for some individual districts reflect measures to protect the privacy of the vote while the general tally accurately reflects the results.
(cf: P.L.2018, c.110, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires county clerks, in consultation with county boards of elections, to periodically report the unofficial tally of election results on the night of any primary and general election and until the final tally thereafter.
Under current law, district boards of elections are required to post a notice every two hours on election day indicating the cumulative number of voters who have voted in the election by machine and provisional ballot. Current law also requires that the early voting and vote-by-mail voting results be reported at the election district level, unless such reporting would violate the privacy of the voter’s vote, in which case the results are required to be reported in a manner that protects the voter’s privacy.
This bill directs each county clerk, in consultation with the county board of elections of that county, to periodically report the unofficial tally of the election by 11:59 P.M. on the day of each primary and general election and by 9 P.M. of every day thereafter until all eligible ballots have been counted and the election is certified. Each report required by the bill would detail, at the election district, ward, municipal, and county levels, the unofficial election tally using the following categories:
(a) for the in-person early voting period, the number of early voting machines or voting equipment deployed, the number of early voting machines or voting equipment remaining to be closed at the conclusion of early voting each day, the total number of votes cast during the early voting period, the number of provisional ballots cast during the early voting period, and the number of those provisional ballots counted;
(b) for the election day vote, the number of election day voting machines or voting equipment deployed, the number of election day voting machines or voting equipment remaining to be closed at the conclusion of voting on election day, the total number of votes cast in person on election day, the number of provisional ballots cast on election day, and the number of those provisional ballots counted; and
(c) for the vote-by-mail vote, the number of vote-by-mail ballots that have been issued, received, counted, that remain to be counted, and that have yet to be received or remain outstanding in that election;
The bill also requires each county clerk, in consultation with the county board of elections of that county, to send the periodic reports to the Secretary of State. Under the bill, upon receiving each report, the Secretary of State would provide in an easily accessible location on the Internet site of the Division of Elections the county by county and Statewide totals for each voting category included in the reports. The bill directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with county clerks and county boards of elections, to promulgate uniform guidelines for all county clerks to follow in creating the reports and postings required by the bill.
Under the bill, whenever the reporting requirements 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, provided that the election results posted on the respective websites would contain a disclosure stating that the results reported for some individual districts reflect measures to protect the privacy of the vote while the general tally accurately reflects the results.