Provides for qualified voters who are incarcerated to receive mail-in ballots.

S4240

SENATE, No. 4240

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 14, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Provides for qualified voters who are incarcerated to
receive mail-in ballots.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the provision of mail-in ballots to qualified
voters who are incarcerated and supplementing P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et
seq.).

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

���� 1.��� a.� The Secretary of
State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, shall
provide to qualified voters who are detained or incarcerated for reasons other
than a conviction for an indictable offense an application for a mail-in ballot.�
The application shall enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in ballot and
to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated as a
secondary address to which the ballot shall be sent in accordance with section
3 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3).

���� b.��� Except as otherwise
provided by this section, an application for a mail-in ballot submitted
pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be treated as any other
application submitted pursuant to P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.), and the voter
submitting the application shall receive and return their mail-in ballot as
provided by P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).

���� c.���� If a voter who requests
to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a. of this section is
subsequently transferred to another location, then the Department of
Corrections shall ensure the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter;
provided, however, that such act shall not result in the department or any
employee thereof being considered a messenger or bearer within the meaning of
P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).�

���� d.��� Nothing in this section
shall be construed to confer the right to vote to persons incarcerated as the
result of a conviction for an indictable offense or otherwise disqualified from
voting in this State.� If a person is convicted of an indictable offense after
having completed an application for a mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a.
of this section, any ballot sent to or received from the person shall be deemed
void and shall not be counted.

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides for qualified
voters who are detained or incarcerated to apply for and receive mail-in
ballots.

���� Under current law, persons who
are incarcerated as a result of a conviction for an indictable offense, or
felonies, are ineligible to vote.� This bill does not change that.� However,
certain persons may be incarcerated for nonindictable offenses or detained
pending trial, in which case the person retains the right to vote but requires
access to a mail-in ballot from the location at which they are detained or
incarcerated to exercise that right.

���� This bill requires that the Secretary
of State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of
Corrections, provides an application for a mail-in ballot to qualified voters
detained or incarcerated for reasons other than a conviction for an indictable
offense.� The application will enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in
ballot and to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated
as a secondary address to which the ballot can be sent.� If a voter who
requests to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to this bill is subsequently
transferred to another location, then the Department of Corrections will ensure
the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter.