Revises processing of valid mail-in ballots received after closure of polls.

S3709

SENATE, No. 3709

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 2, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JOSEPH PENNACCHIO

District 26 (Morris and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Revises processing of valid mail-in ballots received
after closure of polls.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
revising the processing of valid mail-in ballots
received after the polls close and amending P.L.2009, c.79.

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

���� 1.��� Section 22 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-22) is amended to read as follows:

���� 22. a. On the day of each
election, or as provided under subsection b. of this section, each county board
of elections shall open in the presence of the commissioner of registration, or
the designee thereof, the inner envelopes that contain the mail-in ballots with
the votes cast for the election.� The inner envelopes containing the ballots
that the board or the Superior Court has rejected shall not be so opened, but
shall be retained as provided for by this act.� The board shall then proceed to
canvass the votes cast on the mail-in ballots, but no such ballot shall be
counted in any primary election for the general election if the ballot of the
political party marked for voting thereon differs from the designation of the
political party in the primary election of which such ballot is intended to be
voted as marked on the envelope by the county board of elections.

���� Every mail-in ballot that
bears a postmark date before or of the day of the election and that is received
by the county board within 144 hours after the time of the closing of the polls
for the election that the ballot was prepared shall be considered valid and
shall be canvassed.� Every mail-in ballot that does not bear a postmark date
but that is received by the county board by delivery of the United States
Postal Service before, or within 48 hours after, the time of the closing of the
polls for the election for which the ballot was prepared shall be considered
valid and shall be canvassed.

����
A mail-in ballot received
after the closing of the polls, which is to be considered valid pursuant to
this subsection, shall be numbered and initialed by both a Republican and
Democrat on the county board of elections on the date of receipt and before it
is canvassed.� Notwithstanding any other provisions of P.L.2009, c.79 to the
contrary, the mail-in ballot so received shall not be separated from the inner
envelope, except to canvass the mail-in ballot, until the 61st day after the
mail-in ballot is received, numbered, and initialed.� Only a judge of the
Superior Court, acting in furtherance of a case rightfully before the court, shall
be permitted to access the mail-in ballot and inner envelope during the 60-day
period following the date the mail-in ballot is received, numbered, and
initialed.

���� b.��� A county board of
elections may begin opening the inner envelopes for each mail-in ballot and
canvassing each mail-in ballot from the inner envelope no earlier than five
days prior to the day of the election.� The Secretary of State shall establish
guidelines concerning the early canvassing process.� If a county board of
elections begins opening the inner envelopes and canvassing the mail-in ballots
from the inner envelopes prior to the day of the election, the county board
shall implement the measures necessary to ensure the security and secrecy of
the mail-in ballots.� The contents of the mail-in ballots and the results of
the ballot canvassing shall remain confidential and shall be disclosed only in
accordance with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, regulations
and guidelines concerning the disclosure of election results, and in no
circumstances disclosed prior to the close of polls on the day of the
election.� In addition to the guidelines concerning the early canvassing
process, the Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations to ensure that any
county board of elections that begins opening the inner envelopes and
canvassing the mail-in ballots from the inner envelopes prior to the closing of
the polls on election day shall do so in a manner that prevents any person,
including any person who is authorized to receive and canvass completed mail-in
ballots, from obtaining knowledge of the unofficial results of ballots cast for
any candidate for public office or any public question submitted to the voters
until after the closing of the polls on election day.� No tally or tabulation
of results shall occur prior to the opening of polls on election day.� As
provided under R.S.19:34-13, any person who is authorized to receive and
canvass completed mail-in-ballots who knowingly discloses to the public the
contents of a mail-in ballot prior to the time designated by law for the
closing of the polls for each election shall be guilty of a crime of the third
degree.

���� c.���� Immediately after the
canvass is completed, the respective county boards of election shall certify
the result of the canvass to the county clerk or the municipal or district
clerk or other appropriate officer, as the case may be, showing the result of
the canvass by municipality and ward.� The votes thus canvassed shall be
counted in determining the result of the election.

���� The county board of elections
shall, immediately after the canvass is completed for any primary election,
certify the results of the votes cast for members of the county committees to
the respective municipal clerks, and those votes shall be counted in determining
the result of the election.

���� Each mail-in ballot cast,
canvassed, and tallied in an election under this section, excluding a fire
district election, shall be reported in the results for the election district
in which the voter

resides.� Whenever the reporting
requirement of this subsection would cause a voter's privacy to be violated,
the election results shall be reported in a manner that maintains the privacy
of the vote.

(cf: P.L.2022, c.70, s.7)

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill revises the process
for storing valid mail-in ballots received after the polls close.

���� A mail-in ballot received
after the closing of the polls, which is to be considered valid for counting under
current law, will be numbered and initialed by both a Republican and Democrat
on the county board of elections on the date of receipt and before it is
canvassed.� After canvassing, the mail-in ballot will then not be separated
from the inner envelope until the 61st day after the mail-in ballot is
received, numbered, and initialed.� Only a judge of the Superior Court acting
in furtherance of a case rightfully before the court will be permitted to
access the mail-in ballot and inner envelope during the 60-day period following
the date the mail-in ballot is received, numbered, and initialed.