A5776

An Act concerning the petition forms and the electronic gathering of signatures and submission of petitions, and amending various parts of the statutory law, and supplementing chapter 27A of Title 19 of the Revised Statues.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) The Secretary of State shall make publicly available, including electronically on the department’s Internet site, the recall petition form or forms not later than January 1 of each year.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a recall election official shall permit a recall committee to collect recall petition signatures via an online form or forms and submit a recall petition electronically. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall develop a generic template or templates for the online form or forms to be used for the collection of signatures and submission of a recall petition. The Secretary of State shall also develop guidelines and procedures concerning the collection of signatures via an online form or forms and the submission of a recall petition electronically. The guidelines and procedures developed by the Secretary of State shall be consistent with the procedures for hand delivery of recall petitions and handwritten signatures under current law.

2. R.S.19:13-1 is amended to read as follows:

19:13-1. a. Candidates for all public offices to be voted for at the general election in this [state] State or in any political division thereof, except electors of president and vice president of the United States nominated by the political parties at state conventions, shall be nominated directly by petition as hereinafter provided, or at the primary for the general election held pursuant to this title. The Secretary of State shall make publicly available, including electronically on the department’s Internet site, the nominating petition form or forms not later than January 1 of each year.

b. Notwithstanding the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Secretary of State, county clerks, and municipal clerks shall permit a candidate to collect petition signatures via an online form or forms and submit a nominating petition electronically. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall develop a generic template or templates for the online form or forms to be used for the collection of signatures and submission of a nominating petition. The Secretary of State shall also develop guidelines and procedures concerning the collection of signatures via an online form or forms and the submission of a nominating petition electronically. The guidelines and procedures developed by the Secretary of State shall be consistent with the procedures for hand delivery of a nominating petition and handwritten signatures under current law.

(cf: R.S.19:13-1)

3. R.S.19:24-3 is amended to read as follows:

19:24-3. a. Candidates for election as delegates or alternates to the national conventions of political parties shall be nominated by petition in the manner herein provided for the nomination of candidates to be voted for at the primary election for the general election except as herein otherwise provided. The Secretary of State shall make publicly available, including electronically on the department’s Internet site, the delegate or alternate nominating petition form or forms not later than January 1 of each year.

b. Notwithstanding the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Secretary of State shall permit candidates to collect petition signatures via an online form or forms and submit a delegate or alternate nominating petition electronically. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall develop a generic template or templates for the online form or forms to be used for the collection of signatures and submission of a delegate or alternate nominating petition. The Secretary of State shall also develop guidelines and procedures concerning the collection of signatures via an online form or forms and the submission of a delegate or alternate petition electronically. The guidelines and procedures developed by the Secretary of State shall be consistent with the procedures for hand delivery of a delegate or alternate nominating petition and handwritten signatures under current law.

(cf: R.S.19:24-3)

4. Section 106 of P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-106) is amended to read as follows:

106. a. The Secretary of State shall make publicly available, including electronically on the department’s Internet site, the initiative and referendum petition form or forms not later than January 1 of each year.

b. All petition papers circulated for the purposes of an initiative or referendum shall be uniform in size and style. Initiative petition papers shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance. The signatures to initiative or referendum petitions need not all be appended to one paper, but to each separate petition there shall be attached a statement of the circulator thereof as provided by this section. Each signer of any such petition paper shall sign his name in ink or indelible pencil and shall indicate after his name his place of residence by street and number, or other description sufficient to identify the place. There shall appear on each petition paper the names and addresses of three voters, designated as the committee of petitioners, who shall be regarded as responsible for the circulation and filing of the petition and for its possible withdrawal as hereinafter provided. Attached to each separate petition paper there shall be an affidavit of the circulator thereof that he, and he only, personally circulated the foregoing paper, that all the signatures appended thereto were made in his presence, and that he believes them to be the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be.

c. Notwithstanding the provisions of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, county clerks and municipal clerks shall permit a committee of petitioners to collect petition signatures via an online form or forms and submit an initiative and referendum petition electronically. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Department of Law and Public Safety, shall develop a generic template or templates for the online form or forms to be used for the collection of signatures and submission of an initiative and referendum petition. The Secretary of State shall also develop guidelines and procedures concerning the collection of signatures via an online form or forms and the submission of an initiative and referendum petition electronically. The guidelines and procedures developed by the Secretary of State shall be consistent with the procedures for hand delivery of an initiative and referendum petition and handwritten signatures under current law.

(cf: P.L.1972, c.154, s.106)

5. This act shall take effect January 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Secretary of State to make publicly available, including electronically on the department’s Internet site, nominating, recall, initiative, and referendum petition forms no later than January 1 of each year. The bill also permits an electronic process for the collection of candidate, delegate, recall, initiative, and referendum petition signatures and their submission for all elections after January 1 following the enactment of the bill.

Under the bill, the electronic petition processes used for elections in 2020 and for all other elections taking place during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency, as declared by the Governor under Executive Order No. 103 (2020), would be permeant going forward.