Requires electronic voting system vendors disclose financial ties prior to electronic voting system approval by Secretary of State.

A1935

ASSEMBLY, No. 1935

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Danielsen, Assemblywomen Lopez, Fantasia and
Assemblyman Inganamort

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires electronic voting system vendors disclose
financial ties prior to electronic voting system approval by Secretary of
State.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning electronic voting system vendors and
amending P.L.1973, c.82 and supplementing Chapter 53A of Title 19 of the
Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1973,
c.82 (C.19:53A-1) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� As used in this act,
unless otherwise specified:

���� a.��� "Automatic
tabulating equipment"� includes apparatus which automatically examines and
counts votes recorded on ballot cards, and tabulates� the results.

���� b.��� "Ballot card"�
means a tabulating card on which votes may be recorded.

���� c.��� "Ballot
labels"� means the pages, cards, or other material containing the names of
offices and candidates and the statements of measures to be voted on, which are
placed on the voting device.

���� d.��� "Counting
center"� means one or more locations selected by each of the� county
boards of election for the automatic counting of ballots.

���� e.��� "Electronic voting
system"� means a system in which votes are recorded� on ballot cards, and
such votes are subsequently counted and tabulated by� automatic tabulating
equipment at one or more counting centers.

����
f.���� �Electronic voting
system vendor�� means and includes any individual, firm, joint venture,
partnership, corporation, or company seeking certification for electronic
voting systems in this State.

����
[
f
]

g
.��� "Voting
device"� means an apparatus which the voter uses to record his� votes on a
tabulating card.

����
[
g
]

h
.�� "County boards
of elections"� shall mean the county board of elections� appointed in the
various counties or the person or board in charge of elections� in the various
counties as provided in Title 19 of the New Jersey Revised� Statutes.

(cf: P.L.1973, c.82, s.1)

���� 2.��� (New section)��� No
electronic voting system shall be used in an election in this State unless the
electronic voting system vendor discloses any owners or shareholders with a
five percent or greater interest or share in the company, in any subsidiary
companies, or in the vendor�s parent company, as well as any changes thereto of
five percent or greater,� and has been approved by the Secretary of State.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires electronic
voting system vendors to disclose any financial ties prior to approval by the
Secretary of State. As amended, the bill would require those vendors to report
significant changes in ownership or shareholder status on an ongoing basis.

���� Currently, voting system
vendors must meet a number of requirements prior to approval and certification
of voting systems in the State.� However, the vendors are not required to
disclose financial and investment ties.� This bill would require voting system
vendors to disclose any owners or shareholders with a five percent or greater
interest or share in the company, in any subsidiary companies, or in the
vendor�s parent company.� The bill would also require changes of five percent
or greater in ownership or shareholder status to be reported.

���� This bill is a response to the
recent elections security issues.� Several states have taken steps to address
potential security risks.� In Maryland, the state moved to require voting
system vendors to disclose its investment ties following the revelation that a
former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, with close ties to Russian
President Vladimir Putin, owned the firm which financed the buyout of
Maryland�s voting system vendor.� In June of 2019, North Carolina�s State Board
of Elections voted unanimously for each vendor seeking certification in the
state to disclose any owners or shareholders with a five percent or greater
interest or share in the company, in any subsidiary companies or in the
vendor�s parent company.

���� This bill draws on the actions
of these states to ensure the security of the elections of the State of New
Jersey.