Establishes "New Jersey Elections Security Act."

S3528

SENATE, No. 3528

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JAMES BEACH

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes �New Jersey Elections Security Act.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning secure voting and elections and
supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statutes
and repealing section 1
of P.L.2007, c.349
.

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

���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �New Jersey Elections Security Act.�

���� 2.��� a.� Following the
effective date of this act, P.L.�� , c.�� (C.�� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), whenever a county replaces its electronic voting
machines, it shall replace them with a paper ballot voting system as specified
under this section.�

���� b.��� The paper ballot voting
system shall include, but may not be limited to, the following requirements:

���� (1)�� a voter shall mark a
paper ballot at the polling place, either by hand, using a ballot marking
device certified by the State, or both, as may be determined in each county,
which ballot shall be tabulated using voting equipment certified by the State;

���� (2)�� a voter shall vote
independently using the voting equipment certified by the State, unless the
voter is entitled to request and has requested assistance to vote pursuant to
guidelines under the �Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990� (42
U.S.C. s.12101 et seq.), and in that case the voter shall be assisted;

���� (3)�� the voting equipment
certified by the State for use in elections first implementing the paper ballot
voting system and thereafter shall provide a �cast vote record� (CVR);

���� (4)�� all new voting equipment
certified by the State shall adhere to the federal Election Assistance
Commission�s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines prior to purchase; and

���� (5)�� any other requirement
the Secretary of State deems appropriate for the implementation of the paper
ballot voting system.

���� 3.��� a.� The Secretary of
State shall require the County Boards of Elections or Superintendents of
Elections, as the case may be, to maintain all paper ballots cast in an
election under this act, P.L. , c.�� (C.�� ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill), for a period of not less than two years
following the date of an election. Thereafter, the ballots may be retained in
accordance with procedures set forth by the Director of the Division of
Elections in the Department of State.

���� b.��� Prior to verification of
the official election results by the County Boards of Elections or
Superintendents of Elections, as the case may be, the boards or superintendents
shall:

���� (1)�� compare and reconcile
the cast vote record provided by the voting equipment certified by the State with
the number of voters who signed in at the polling place and who voted by
mail-in, provisional, and military or overseas ballots;

���� (2)�� compare and reconcile
precinct totals with countywide results to ensure that they add up to the
correct sum; and

���� (3)�� review, and account for,
all voting equipment memory cards or flash drives to ensure they are properly
loaded into the tally server.

���� 4.��� a.� The Secretary of
State shall require each of the counties implementing the paper ballot voting
system under section 1 of this act, P.L.�� , c.�� (C.�� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), to conduct a risk-limiting audit for each election as
provided in this section.

���� b.��� Each county shall make
use of a risk-limiting audit in accordance with the requirements of this
section. Races to be audited shall be selected in accordance with procedures
established by the Secretary of State, and all contested races are eligible for
such selection. Upon written application from a county, the Secretary of State
may waive the requirements of this subsection upon a sufficient showing by the
county that the technology in use by the county will not enable the county to
satisfy such requirements in preparation for the first election in which a
risk-limiting audit is used.

���� c.���� The Secretary of State,
in consultation with the county Boards of Elections and Superintendents of
Elections, shall promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to implement
and administer the requirements of this section. In connection with the
promulgation of the rules and regulations, the secretary shall consult
recognized statistical experts, equipment vendors, and county clerks, and shall
consider best practices for conducting risk-limiting audits.

���� d.��� As used in this section:

���� (1)�� �Incorrect outcome�
means an outcome that is inconsistent with the election outcome that would be
obtained by conducting a full recount by human inspection of the human-readable
portions of the paper ballot.

���� (2)�� �Risk-limiting audit�
means an audit protocol that makes use of statistical methods and is designed
to limit to acceptable levels the risk of certifying a preliminary election
outcome that constitutes an incorrect outcome.

���� 5.��� The State may
appropriate the funds necessary to purchase new equipment, software, and
hardware for the paper ballot voting system and to meet the costs of implementing
this act, P.L.�� , c. (C. ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill). The counties shall be permitted to sell
decommissioned voting machines, equipment, and software to other states to
recoup funds. The Department of State shall apply for grant funding from the
United States Election Assistance Commission to help offset these costs.

���� 6.��� a.� There is established
the New Jersey Election Security Commission, which shall be in but not of the
Department of State.

���� b.��� The commission shall be
composed of 12 members to be appointed as follows:

���� (1)�� The Secretary of State,
or the designee thereof;

���� (2)�� The Attorney General, or
the designee thereof;

���� (3)�� The Director of the
Division of Elections in the Department of State, or the designee therefor, and
the Director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, or
the designee thereof;

���� (4)�� Two members of the
Senate, appointed by the President thereof, who shall not be members of the
same political party;

���� (5)�� Two members of the
General Assembly, appointed by the Speaker thereof, who shall not be members of
the same political party; and

���� (6)�� Four members of the New
Jersey Association of Election Officials, appointed by the Governor, two of
whom shall be County Clerks, who shall not be members of the same political
party, one of whom shall be a county Superintendent of Elections and one of
whom shall be a member of a County Board of Elections, who shall not be members
of the same political party.

���� Each member shall serve for a
term of two years from the date of appointment and be eligible for
re-appointment without limit.� Any vacancy in the membership of the commission
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

���� c.���� Members of the
commission shall be appointed within 45 days of the enactment of P.L.���� ,
c.���� (C.���� )(pending before the Legislature as this bill) and shall
organize as soon as practicable after the appointment of the majority of its
members.� The Chair and Vice Chair of the commission shall be selected by the
Governor from among the appointed members.� The Chair may appoint a secretary,
who need not be a member of the commission.� The commission shall meet at the
call of the Chair and hold hearings at the times and in the places it may deem
appropriate and necessary to fulfill its purposes.

���� d.��� The members of the
commission shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, within the
limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission for
its purposes.

���� e.���� The commission shall be
entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the
employees of the Department of State, and to employ such stenographic and
clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as may
be necessary in order to perform its duties, within the limit of funds
available to it for its purposes.

���� f.���� No later than four
months following each general election following the enactment of this act,
P.L.���� , c.���� (C.��� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the
commission shall draft and release a report on the security of elections
occurring in this State during the previous year.� The report shall include the
results from the risk-limiting audit and the change to paper ballots with voting
equipment certified by the State as required by this act.� The commission may
make recommendations, if deemed necessary, for the improvement of election
security in this State.

���� g.��� Copies of the report
shall be transmitted to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the President of
the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, the chairs of the Senate and
Assembly Standing reference committees that consider election-related legislation,
or their successor committees, and any other official required to receive
reports pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1).� Copies of the
report shall also be made available to the general public.

���� 7.��� Section 1 of P.L. 2007,
c.349 (C.19:61-9) is repealed.

���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect 180 days following the date of enactment, but the Department of State in
conjunction with any other applicable departments and local government units may
take anticipatory actions prior to the enactment of this bill.

STATEMENT

���� This bill, the �New Jersey
Elections Security Act,� establishes a demonstration program to transition the
State to a paper ballot voting system using optical scanners in each election.

���� The bill requires that whenever
a county replaces its electronic voting machines, it must replace them with a
paper ballot voting system as described in the bill.

���� The paper ballot voting system
will include the following components: a voter at the polls will mark a paper
ballot either by hand, or by using a ballot marking device, or both, which will
be tabulated using voting equipment certified by the State. The voter will vote
independently, unless the voter is entitled to request and has requested
assistance to vote pursuant to guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities
Act, and in that case the voter shall be assisted. The bill requires the voting
equipment to provide a �cast vote record,� and to adhere to the federal
Election Assistance Commission�s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

���� The bill provides that, prior
to verification of the official election results by the County Boards of
Elections or Superintendents of Elections, as the case may be, the boards or
superintendents would be required to (1) compare and reconcile the cast vote
record with the number of voters who signed in at the polling place and who
voted by mail-in, provisional, and military or overseas ballots; (2) compare
and reconcile precinct totals with countywide results to ensure that they add
up to the correct amount; and (3) review, and account for, all voting equipment
memory cards or flash drives to ensure they are properly loaded into the tally
server.

���� The bill also requires
counties to conduct a risk-limiting audit for each election, which is an audit
protocol that makes use of statistical methods and is designed to limit to
acceptable levels the risk of certifying a preliminary election outcome that constitutes
an incorrect outcome. This provision in the bill is modeled after the
risk-limiting audit statute in the State of Colorado.

���� Under the bill, the State is
permitted to appropriate funds necessary to purchase new equipment. Counties
would be permitted to sell decommissioned voting machines, equipment, and
software to other states to recoup funds, and the Department of State is to
apply for grant funding from the United States Election Assistance Commission
to help offset these costs.

���� In addition, the bill creates
a permanent 12-member New Jersey Election Security Commission, composed of
cabinet officers from the Executive Branch, members of the Senate and General
Assembly, and local officials from the New Jersey Association of Election
Officials. No later than four months following each general election after the
bill becomes law, the commission is to draft and release a report on the
security of elections occurring in this State during the previous year. The
report is to include the results from the risk-limiting audit and the change to
paper ballots as required by the bill. The commission may make recommendations,
if deemed necessary, for the improvement of election security in this State.

���� The bill would take effect 180
days following the date of enactment, but the Department of State in
conjunction with any other applicable departments and local government units
may take anticipatory actions prior to its enactment.