New Jersey Statutes 19:63-3. Procedure for use of mail-in ballot
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 19:63-3
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
(1) in all future elections, including general elections, held in this State, in which the voter is eligible to vote; or
(2) in any single election held in this State.
The qualified voter who chooses the option to vote using a mail-in ballot in all future elections shall be furnished with such a ballot by the county clerk without further request on the part of the voter and until the voter requests in writing that the voter no longer be sent a mail-in ballot, or beginning with the 2020 general election cycle, if the voter does not vote by mail in four consecutive years, then the voter shall no longer be furnished with a mail-in ballot for future elections and the voter shall be notified in writing of the change.
The mail-in ballot application form prepared by the Secretary of State shall present the two options in the order provided above. The mail-in ballot application 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.
The additional direct expenditures required for the implementation of the provisions of this subsection as amended by section 1 of P.L.2018, c.72 shall be offset pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.459 (C. 19:63-29).
b. (1) Not less than seven days before an election in which a voter wants to vote by mail, the voter may apply to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C. 19:63-5), for a mail-in ballot. The application shall be in writing, shall be signed by the applicant and shall state the applicant’s place of voting residence and the address to which the ballot shall be sent. In the case of a voter choosing to have their mail-in ballot sent to a secondary address, if the ballot is returned or marked undeliverable for two consecutive general elections, then future mail-in ballots shall be mailed to the voter’s address where they are registered to vote and the voter shall be notified in writing of the change. The Secretary of State shall prepare a mail-in application form and shall have the authority to promulgate any rules and regulations the secretary deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subsection.
(2) Beginning on January 1, 2026 and thereafter, not less than seven days before an election in which a voter wants to vote by mail, instead of submitting an application under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the voter may apply for a mail-in ballot electronically through the voter registration website established by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.382 (C. 19:31-6.4c), which application shall be electronically submitted to the person designated by the Secretary of State. The application shall be in electronic form, shall be signed by the applicant using the applicant’s electronic signature in the Statewide Voter Registration System, and shall state the applicant’s place of voting residence and the address to which the ballot shall be sent. The Secretary of State shall prepare a mail-in ballot electronic application form and shall have the authority to promulgate any guidance, guidelines, rules and regulations the secretary deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subsection. The rules and regulations shall ensure the security of the online mail-in ballot application form and the use of verifiable signatures, including a process for the resolution of signature discrepancies and the validation of the information provided by the applicant.
c. Any voter wanting to vote by mail in any election may apply to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C. 19:63-5) for a mail-in ballot to be sent to the voter. A voter who is a member of the armed forces of the United States may use a federal postcard application form to apply for a mail-in ballot.
d. Any voter who fails to apply for a mail-in ballot before the seven-day period prescribed in subsection b. of this section may apply in person to the county clerk for a mail-in ballot up to 3 p.m. of the day before the election.
e. A person voting by mail-in ballot who registered by mail after January 1, 2003, who did not provide personal identification information when registering pursuant to section 16 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C. 19:31-6.4) and is voting for the first time in his or her current county of residence following registration shall include copies of the required identification information with the mail-in ballot. Failure to include such information with the mail-in ballot shall result in its rejection.
f. The county clerk shall not transmit a mail-in ballot for any election to any person who: is deemed by a county commissioner of registration to be an inactive voter; or notifies the clerk in writing that the person no longer wishes to receive such a ballot for any election; or is no longer eligible to vote and whose registration file has been transferred to the deleted file pursuant to R.S.19:31-19.
g. Any mail-in ballot that is sent to a qualified voter and that is returned to the county clerk for any reason shall be forwarded to the commissioner of registration, who shall so note the return in the voter record of that voter.
L.2009, c.79, s.3; amended 2018, c.72, s.1; 2019, c.459, s.3; 2020, c.70, s.8; 2022, c.67, s.10; 2022, c.68, s.1.