Allows voters to submit application to vote by mail using electronic mail-in ballot application form through website maintained by Secretary of State up to seven days before election.

A1373

ASSEMBLY, No. 1373

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK

District 37 (Bergen)

Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK

District 18 (Middlesex)

Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Allows voters to submit application to vote by mail
using electronic mail-in ballot application form through website maintained by
Secretary of State up to seven days before election.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning the manner of submitting applications to
vote by mail and amending P.L.2009, c.79.

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

���� 1.� Section 3 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-3) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.� a. �A qualified voter
shall be entitled to vote using a mail-in ballot:

���� (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 the voter submits a subsequent mail-in
ballot application form without selecting the option to vote by mail in all
future elections
.

���� 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. �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
offered
in writing
[
,
]

and
electronically through a secure website maintained by the Secretary of State.�
The application
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.�
If the applicant submits an electronic mail-in ballot application
form, the application shall be signed by the applicant using the applicant�s
electronic signature in the Statewide Voter Registration System and
electronically submitted to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-5).

The electronic mail-in ballot
application form shall contain substantively the same information required to
be contained on a paper mail-in ballot application form.
� The Secretary of
State shall prepare
[
a
]

the

mail-in
ballot paper and electronic
application
[
form
]

forms

and shall have the authority to promulgate any rules and regulations the
secretary deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subsection.

���� 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.

(cf: P.L.2020, c.70, s.8)

���� 2.� Section 5 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-5) is amended to read as follows:

���� 5.� In the case of any
election, the application for a mail-in ballot shall be made to the county
clerk.�
An application for a mail-in ballot may be mailed or submitted
electronically pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.2009, c.79
(C.19:63-3), or submitted in person pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of
P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3).
� The county clerk shall stamp thereon the date
on which the application was received in the clerk's office.

���� In the case of applications
for overseas federal election voter ballots, as provided for in P.L.1976, c.23
(C.19:59-1 et seq.), no application shall be refused on the grounds that it was
submitted too early.

���� In the case of voter
registration forms that include a selected vote by mail option, a copy of each
such form shall be transmitted to and received by the appropriate county clerk,
who shall be responsible for providing mail-in ballots to each qualified voter
requesting such ballots for future elections, until the voter requests
otherwise in writing
or the voter submits a mail-in ballot application form
without selecting the option to vote by mail in all future elections
.

(cf: P.L.2018, c.72, s.5)

���� 3.� Section 6 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-6) is amended to read as follows:

���� 6.� a. �The county clerk, in
the case of any Statewide election, countywide election, or school election in
a regional or other school district comprising more than one municipality; the
municipal clerk, in the case of any municipal election or school election in a
school district comprising a single municipality; and the commissioners or
other governing or administrative body of the district, in the case of any
election to be held in any fire district or other special district, other than
a municipality, created for specified public purposes within one or more
municipalities, shall publish the following notice in substantially the
following form:

���� NOTICE TO PERSONS WANTING
MAIL-IN BALLOTS

���� If you are a qualified and
registered voter of the State who wants to vote by mail in
the......................... (school, municipal, primary, general, or other)
election to be held on................. (date of election), the following
applies:

���� You must complete the
application form below and send it to the county clerk where you reside or
write or apply in person to the county clerk where you reside to request a
mail-in ballot.�
Instead, you may complete the application form
electronically on the Secretary of State�s website at ����� (insert website
address here).

���� The name, address, and
signature of any person who has assisted you to complete the mail-in ballot
application must be provided on the application, and you must sign and date the
application.

���� No person may serve as an
authorized messenger or bearer for more than three qualified voters in an
election, but a person may serve as such for up to five qualified voters in an
election if those voters are immediate family members residing in the same household
as the messenger or bearer.

���� No person who is a candidate
in the election for which the voter requests a mail-in ballot may provide any
assistance in the completion of the ballot or serve as an authorized messenger
or bearer.

���� A person who applies for a
mail-in ballot must submit his or her application at least seven days before
the election, but such person may request an application in person from the
county clerk up to 3 p.m. of the day before the election.

���� Voters who want to vote by
mail in all future elections will, after their initial request and without
further action on their part, be provided with a mail-in ballot until the voter
requests otherwise in writing.

���� Application forms may be
obtained by applying to the undersigned either in writing or by telephone, or
the application form provided below may be completed and forwarded to the
undersigned.

���� Dated.....................................................

���� ........................................................................

���� (signature and title of county
clerk)

���� ....................................

���� (address of county clerk)

���� ....................................

���� (telephone no. of county
clerk)

����
Instead, you may complete
the application form electronically on the Secretary of State�s website at
����� (insert website address here).

���� b. �(1) �The Secretary of
State shall be responsible for providing all information regarding overseas
ballots to each overseas voter eligible for such a ballot pursuant to P.L.1976,
c.23 (C.19:59-1 et seq.).� The secretary shall also make available valid
overseas voter registration and ballot applications to any voter who is a
member of the armed forces of the United States and who is a permanent resident
of this State, or who is an overseas voter who wishes to register to vote or to
vote in any jurisdiction in this State.� The secretary shall provide such
public notice as may be deemed necessary to inform members of the armed forces
of the United States and overseas voters how to obtain valid overseas voter
registration and ballot applications.

���� (2)�� The Secretary of State
shall undertake a program to inform voters in this State about their
eligibility to vote by mail pursuant to this act.� Dissemination of this
information shall be included in the standard notices required by this section
and other provisions of current law, including but not limited to the notice
requirements of R.S.19:12-7, and shall be effectuated by such means as the
secretary deems appropriate and to the extent that funds for such dissemination
are appropriated including, but not limited to, by means of Statewide or local
electronic media, public service announcements broadcast by such media, notices
on the Internet site of the Department of State or any other department or
agency of the Executive Branch of State government or its political
subdivisions deemed appropriate by the secretary, and special mailings or
notices in newspapers or other publications circulating in the counties or
municipalities of this State.

���� c. The mail-in ballot
materials shall contain a notice that any person voting by mail-in ballot who
has registered by mail after January 1, 2003, who did not provide personal
identification information when registering 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, and
that failure to include such information shall result in the rejection of the
ballot.

���� d. �The notice provided for in
subsection a. of this section shall be published before the 55th day
immediately preceding the holding of any election.

���� Notices relating to any
Statewide or countywide election shall be published in at least two newspapers
published in each county.� All officials charged with the duty of publishing
such notices shall publish the same in at least one newspaper published in each
municipality or district in which the election is to be held, or if no
newspaper is published in the municipality or district, then in a newspaper
published in the county and circulating in the municipality or district.� All
such notices shall be display advertisements.

(cf: P.L.2020, c.71, s.7)

���� 4.� This act shall take effect
on January 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� The bill allows voters to
submit an application to vote by mail using an electronic mail-in ballot
application form through a website maintained by the Secretary of State up to
seven days before election.

���� Under the bill, in addition to
offering paper mail-in ballot applications, the Secretary of State must provide
mail-in ballot applications electronically through a secure website maintained
by the secretary.� The bill provides that if an applicant submits an electronic
mail-in ballot application, the application would be signed by the applicant
using the applicant�s electronic signature in the Statewide Voter Registration
System and electronically submitted to the appropriate county clerk.� The bill
provides that the electronic mail-in ballot application form must contain
substantively the same information that is contained on a paper mail-in ballot
application.

���� The bill also provides that if
a voter opted to receive mail-in ballots in all future elections, a voter may
stop receiving such mail-in ballots if the voter submits a mail-in ballot
application form without selecting the option to vote by mail in all future
elections.