New Jersey Statutes 19:53A-8. Counting of ballots; testing of equipment
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 19:53A-8
- County board: means the county board of elections in a county. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Election: means the procedure whereby the electors of this State or any political subdivision thereof elect persons to fill public office or pass on public questions. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Election district: means the territory within which or for which there is a polling place or room for all voters in the territory to cast their ballots at any election. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Political party: means a party which, at the election held for all of the members of the General Assembly next preceding the holding of any primary election held pursuant to this Title, polled for members of the General Assembly at least 10% of the total vote cast in this State. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
b. All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the direction of the county board of elections or persons designated by it; there shall always be two persons in charge who shall not be members of the same political party; and all proceedings shall be conducted under the observation of the public, but no persons except those authorized for the purpose shall touch any ballot card or return. All persons who are engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall be deputized and take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties. If any ballot card is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made and substituted for the damaged ballot card. All duplicate ballot cards shall be clearly labeled “duplicate,” and shall bear a serial number which shall be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot card. The damaged or defective ballot card as well as the “duplicate” shall be preserved with the other ballot cards. During the count the election officer or board in charge may from time to time release unofficial returns. Upon completion of the count the official returns shall be open to the public.
c. The return of the automatic tabulating equipment, to which have been added the write-in and absentee votes, shall, after being duly certified by the county board of elections, constitute the official return of each election district.
d. If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the ballot cards with tabulating equipment, the county board of elections may direct that they be counted manually, following as far as practicable the provisions governing the counting of paper ballots contained in Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
L.1973,c.82,s.8; amended 1975, c.316, s.6; 1996, c.120, s.10.