Requires automatic recount for local elections with vote difference of 10 votes or less at candidate's request; provides for geographic regions for judges to adjudicate election recounts and contests; establishes certain adjudication and hearing timelines.

S3202

SENATE, No. 3202

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JANUARY 28, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO

District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires automatic recount for local elections with
vote difference of 10 votes or less at candidate�s request; provides for
geographic regions for judges to adjudicate election recounts and contests;
establishes certain adjudication and hearing timelines.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning election recounts and contests, amending
R.S.19:28-1, and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� R.S.19:28-1 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 19:28-1.�
a.
� When any
candidate at any election shall have reason to believe that an error has been
made in counting the votes of that election, the candidate may, within a period
of 3 days after the certification of the results of the election, apply to a
judge of the Superior Court assigned to the county wherein such district or
districts are located, for a recount of the votes cast at the election in any
district or districts.

����
b.
� When ten voters at
any election shall have reason to believe that an error has been so made in
counting the votes upon any public question at any election, such voters may,
within a period of 3 days after the certification of the results of the election,
apply to a judge of the Superior Court assigned to the county wherein such
district or districts are located, for a recount of the votes cast at the
election in any district or districts on such public question.

����
c.���� When the results of
any election for county or municipal office show that the election was decided
by a vote differential of 10 votes or less, a candidate may request the
appropriate board of elections or boards of elections to conduct an automatic
recount of the votes cast at the election in any district or districts.� The
candidate shall make the recount request within 24 hours after the
certification of the results of that election. The recount shall occur not
later than three days after the certification of the results of that election.�
The appropriate board of elections or boards of elections, or persons
designated by those boards, shall conduct the automatic recount.� The State
shall incur the costs of conducting an automatic recount required pursuant to
this subsection.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.124, s.5)

���� 2.� (New section) �a.�
Notwithstanding any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other
law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Chief Justice of the New Jersey
Supreme Court may annually assign, not later than the Tuesday after Labor Day,
a minimum of three Superior Court judges for each of the following designated
geographic regions to hear and adjudicate all election recount and contest
matters arising under chapter 28 or chapter 29 of Title 19 of the Revised
Statutes within each region:�

���� (1) the Northern Region,
containing the counties of Union, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic,
Warren, and Sussex;

���� (2) the Central Region,
containing the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset; and

���� (3) the Southern Region,
containing the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Ocean, Camden, Atlantic, Cape
May, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Cumberland.

���� b.� In creating the regions
and determining the number of judges to assign to each region pursuant to
subsection a. of this section, the Chief Justice shall take into account any
criteria the Chief Justice deems appropriate, including, but not limited to:

���� (1) the population of each
region;

���� (2) prior election recount and
contest volume; and

���� (3) election year voter
turnout.

���� At the Chief Justice�s
discretion, a county assigned to a region pursuant to subsection a. of this
section may be assigned to a different geographically contiguous region in any
given year. Upon issuing the regions, the number of judges, and their names assigned
to each region each year, the Chief Justice shall cause this information to be
published on the official website of the Judiciary Branch.

���� c.� In hearing and
adjudicating election recount and contest matters, a judge assigned to a region
shall act individually and not as a panel. If an election recount or contest is
filed that arises from one of the counties in a particular region, the next
available judge in that region shall be assigned that case. The assignment of
election recount and contest cases shall not be limited to a judge in the
county of origin, rather to the availability of a judge in the region
containing that county to hear the matter immediately.

���� 3.� (New section)� Notwithstanding
any provision of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, or any other law, rule, or
regulation to the contrary, all matters related to an election recount or an
election contest pursuant to chapter 28 or chapter 29 of Title 19 of the
Revised Statutes, respectively, shall be heard and adjudicated prior to the
assumption of office of the elected candidate, or the reorganization of the
governing body to which the elected candidate was elected, as the case may be.
All pleadings shall be given an initial hearing within 36 hours of an initial
filing. All appeals shall be given an initial hearing within 24 hours, or the
next business day, of the appeal�s filing. As used in this subsection,
�business day� means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or State or federal
holiday.

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires an
automatic recount of the results of any county or municipal election with a vote
difference of 10 votes or less, at the request of a candidate. This bill also
provides for the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, at the Chief
Justice�s discretion, to create geographic regions for assigned Superior Court judges
to adjudicate election recounts and contests. The bill also establishes certain
timelines for the adjudication and initial hearing of election recount and
contest cases.

���� Under current law, election
recounts can be requested by a candidate for office or by a group of 10 voters
at any election. Under current law, the election of any person to any public
office or party position, or the approval or disapproval of any public
proposition, may be contested by the voters of this State or of any of its
political subdivisions affected thereby upon one or more of the stipulated
grounds. Election recounts or contests are heard by the appropriate Superior
Court judge assigned to the county, or that judge assigned for this purpose by
the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case of Statewide
matters.

���� This bill would require an
automatic recount, at the request of a candidate, to be conducted when any
county or municipal election is decided by a vote differential 10 votes or
less. The candidate would be required to make the recount request to the appropriate
board or boards of elections within 24 hours after the certification of the
election results. The recount would occur not later than three days after the
certification of the election results. The appropriate board of elections or
boards of elections, or persons designated by the boards, would conduct the
automatic recount. The State would incur the costs of conducting an automatic
recount.

���� The bill also provides for the
Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, at the Chief Justice�s
discretion, to annually assign, not later than the Tuesday after Labor Day each
September, a minimum of three Superior Court judges for each of the following
designated regions to hear and adjudicate all election recount and contest
matters: (1) the Northern Region, containing the counties of Union, Hudson,
Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Warren, and Sussex; (2) the Central Region,
containing the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset; and (3)
the Southern Region, containing the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Ocean,
Camden, Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, Gloucester, and Cumberland. The bill also
provides for the Chief Justice to take into account any criteria the Chief
Justice deems appropriate in creating the regions and determining the number of
judges for each region, including, but not limited to, population, historical
recount volume, and voter turnout. However, the bill allows for flexibility at
the Chief Justice�s discretion. Under the bill, the regions, the number of
judges, and their names assigned to each region, would be published annually on
the official website of the Judiciary Branch.

���� The bill further provides
that, in hearing and adjudicating election recount and contest matters, a judge
assigned to a region would act individually and not as a panel. If an election
recount or contest is filed in any one of the counties in a particular region,
the next available judge in that region would be assigned that case. The
assignment of election recount and contest cases would not be limited to a
judge in the county of origin, rather to the availability of a judge in the
region containing that county to hear the matter immediately.

���� Under the bill, all matters
related to a recount or contest would be heard and adjudicated prior to the
assumption of office of the elected candidate, or the reorganization of the
governing body to which the elected candidate was elected, as the case may be.
In addition, all pleadings would be given an initial hearing within 36 hours of
an initial filing, and all appeals would be given an initial hearing within 24
hours, or the next business day, of the appeal�s filing.