New Jersey Statutes 19:53C-1. Preparation of provisional ballot packet; notices
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 19:53C-1
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Any election: includes all primary, general, municipal, school and special elections, as defined herein. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of registration in counties. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- 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
- General election: means the annual election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and, where applicable, includes annual school elections and annual fire district elections held on that date. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Municipal election: means an election to be held in and for a single municipality only, at regular intervals. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- 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
- School election: means any annual or special election to be held in and for a local or regional school district established pursuant to chapter 8 or chapter 13 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
(2) Each provisional ballot bag and the inventory of the contents of each such bag shall be delivered to the designated polling place no later than the opening of the polls on the day of an election.
b. The county clerk or the municipal clerk, in the case of a municipal election, shall arrange for the preparation of the envelope, affirmation statement, and written notice that is to accompany each provisional ballot. The envelope shall be of sufficient size to accommodate the provisional ballot, and the affirmation statement shall be affixed thereto in a manner that enables it to be detached once completed and verified by the county commissioner of registration. The statement shall require the voter to provide the voter’s name, and to indicate whether the voter is registered to vote in a county but has moved within that county since registering to vote; or is registered to vote in the election district in which that polling place is located but the voter’s registration information is missing or otherwise deficient; or indicate the voter has applied for a mail-in ballot and not received either the ballot or an explanation for not receiving such a ballot pursuant to notification by the county clerk or from the free-access system, or has applied for and received a mail-in ballot and has not transmitted it to the county board of elections or given it to a bearer for delivery to the county board before the time for the opening of the polls on the day of an election but wants, nevertheless, to vote in the election. The statement shall further require the voter to provide the voter’s most recent prior voter registration address and address on the day of the election and date of birth. The statement shall include the statement: “I swear or affirm, that the foregoing statements made by me are true and correct and that I understand that any fraudulent voting may subject me to a fine of up to $15,000, imprisonment up to five years or both, pursuant to R.S.19:34-11.” It shall be followed immediately by spaces for the voter’s signature and printed name, and in the case of a name change, the voter’s printed old and new name and a signature for each name, the date the statement was completed, political party affiliation, if used in a primary election, and the name of the person providing assistance to the voter, if applicable. Each statement shall also provide spaces for the voter’s telephone number and email address, including language informing the voter that this contact information will be used to contact the voter concerning the acceptance or rejection of the ballot, and how the voter may cure a defect. A voter’s telephone number and email address shall not be subject to public disclosure and shall not be considered a government record. Each statement shall also note the number of the election district, or ward, and name of the municipality at which the statement will be used. The Secretary of State shall prepare for inclusion in the affirmation statement language for the voter to submit the information required in the registration form described in section 16 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C. 19:31-6.4) in order to enable the county commissioner of registration to process the statement as a voter registration application, which shall be valid for future elections if the individual who submitted the provisional ballot is determined not to be a registered voter. The Secretary of State shall also prepare and shall provide language for any written instructions necessary to assure proper completion of the statement.
The written notice shall contain information to be distributed to each voter who votes by provisional ballot. The notice shall state that, if the voter is a mail-in registrant voting for the first time in his or her current county of residence following registration and was given a provisional ballot because he or she did not provide required personal identification information, the voter shall be given until the close of business on the second day after the election to provide identification to the applicable county commissioner of registration, and the notice shall contain a telephone number at which the commissioner may be contacted. The notice shall further state that failure to provide the required personal identification information within that time period shall result in the rejection of the ballot. The notice shall state that pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2004, c.88 (C. 19:61-4), any individual who casts a provisional ballot will be able to ascertain under a system established by the State whether the ballot was accepted for counting, and if the vote was not counted, the reason for the rejection of the ballot. The notice shall include instructions on how to access such information.
c. For the primary for the general election, the provisional ballots shall be printed in ink on paper of a color that matches the color of the voting authority, which shall indicate the party primary of the voter. The provisional ballots shall be uniform in size, quality and type and of a thickness that the printing thereon cannot be distinguished from the back of the paper, and without any mark, device or figure on the front or back other than as provided in P.L.1999, c.232 (C. 19:53C-1 et seq.). Each such ballot shall include near the top thereof and in large type the designation PROVISIONAL BALLOT. In all other respects, the provisional ballots shall conform generally to the other ballots to be used in the election district for the primary election.
The clerk of the county or municipality shall arrange for the preparation of each provisional ballot package with an appropriate number of provisional ballots for each political party, a corresponding number of envelopes with affirmation statements, and a corresponding number of written notices. Additional provisional ballots, envelopes, and notices shall be available for delivery to that election district on the day of the election, if necessary.
d. For the general election the provisional ballots shall be printed in ink. The provisional ballots shall be uniform in size, quality and type and of a thickness that the printing thereon cannot be distinguished from the back of the paper, and without any mark, device or figure on the front or back other than as provided in this act. Each such ballot shall include near the top thereof and in large type the designation PROVISIONAL BALLOT. In all other respects, the provisional ballots shall conform generally to the other ballots to be used in the election district for the general election.
The clerk of the county or municipality shall arrange for the preparation of each provisional ballot package with an appropriate number of provisional ballots, a corresponding number of envelopes with affirmation statements, and a corresponding number of written notices. Additional provisional ballots, envelopes, and notices shall be available for delivery to that election district on the day of the election, if necessary.
e. For a school election the provisional ballots shall be printed in ink. The provisional ballots shall be uniform in size, quality and type and of a thickness that the printing thereon cannot be distinguished from the back of the paper, and without any mark, device or figure on the front or back other than as provided in this act. Each such ballot shall include near the top thereof and in large type the designation PROVISIONAL BALLOT. In all other respects, the provisional ballots shall conform generally to the other ballots to be used in the election district for the school election.
The clerk of the county shall arrange for the preparation of each provisional ballot package with an appropriate number of provisional ballots, a corresponding number of envelopes with affirmation statements, and a corresponding number of written notices. Additional provisional ballots, envelopes, and notices shall be available for delivery to that election district on the day of the election, if necessary.
f. Following the effective date of P.L.2004, c.88 (C. 19:61-1 et al.), a provisional ballot that requires the voter to punch out a hole in the ballot as a means of recording the voter’s vote shall not be used in any election in this State.
g. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2011, c.134).
L.1999, c.232, s.7; amended 2004, c.88, s.22; 2005, c.136, s.50; 2005, c.139, s.19; 2005, c.154, s.56; 2009, c.79, s.33; 2011, c.134, s.47; 2020, c.70, s.7.