Sponsored by:
Assemblyman KENYATTA STEWART
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for qualified voters who are incarcerated to receive mail-in ballots.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the provision of mail-in ballots to qualified voters who are incarcerated and supplementing P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, shall provide to qualified voters who are detained or incarcerated for reasons other than a conviction for an indictable offense an application for a mail-in ballot. The application shall enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in ballot and to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated as a secondary address to which the ballot shall be sent in accordance with section 3 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3).
b. Except as otherwise provided by this section, an application for a mail-in ballot submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be treated as any other application submitted pursuant to P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.), and the voter submitting the application shall receive and return their mail-in ballot as provided by P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).
c. If a voter who requests to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a. of this section is subsequently transferred to another location, then the Department of Corrections shall ensure the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter; provided, however, that such act shall not result in the department or any employee thereof being considered a messenger or bearer within the meaning of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).
d. Nothing in this section shall be construed to confer the right to vote to persons incarcerated as the result of a conviction for an indictable offense or otherwise disqualified from voting in this State. If a person is convicted of an indictable offense after having completed an application for a mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a. of this section, any ballot sent to or received from the person shall be deemed void and shall not be counted.
2. This act shall take effect January 1 next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides for qualified voters who are detained or incarcerated to apply for and receive mail-in ballots.
Under current law, persons who are incarcerated as a result of a conviction for an indictable offense, or felonies, are ineligible to vote. This bill does not change that. However, certain persons may be incarcerated for nonindictable offenses or detained pending trial, in which case the person retains the right to vote but requires access to a mail-in ballot from the location at which they are detained or incarcerated to exercise that right.
This bill requires that the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, provides an application for a mail-in ballot to qualified voters detained or incarcerated for reasons other than a conviction for an indictable offense. The application will enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in ballot and to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated as a secondary address to which the ballot can be sent. If a voter who requests to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to this bill is subsequently transferred to another location, then the Department of Corrections will ensure the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter.