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S4487
SENATE, No. 4487
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 22, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� PARKER SPACE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
���� Changes requirements for persons providing assistance
to voters completing mail-in ballots.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
changing requirements for persons providing assistance
to voters completing mail-in ballots and amending P.L.2009, c.79.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 16 of P.L.2009,
c.79 (C.19:63-16) is amended to read as follows:
���� 16. a.� A mail-in voter shall
be entitled to mark any mail-in ballot forwarded to the voter for voting at any
election by indicating the voter's choice of candidates for the offices named,
and as to public questions, if any, stated thereon, in accordance with current
law.� In the case of ballots to be voted for any primary election for the
general election, as the case may be, the voter's choice shall be limited to
the candidates of the voter's political party or to any person or persons whose
names are written thereon by the voter.� When so marked, such ballot shall be
placed in the inner envelope, which shall then be sealed, and the voter shall
then fill in the form of certificate attached to the inner envelope, at the end
of which the voter shall sign and print the voter's name.� The inner envelope
with the certificate shall then be placed in the outer envelope, which shall
then be sealed.
���� b.��� No mail-in voter shall
permit any person in any way, except as provided by this act, to unseal, mark
or inspect the voter's ballot, interfere with the secrecy of the voter's vote,
complete or sign the certificate, or seal the inner or outer envelope, nor
shall any person do so.
���� c.����
(1)
� A mail-in
voter shall be entitled to assistance from a family member
, or other person who
is a registered voter in the same county as the mail-in voter,
in
performing any of the actions provided for in this section.� The family member
or other person providing such assistance shall certify that he or she assisted
the voter and will maintain the secrecy of the vote by both printing and
signing his or her name in the space provided on the certificate.� In no event
may a candidate for election provide such assistance, nor may any person, at
the time of providing such assistance, campaign or electioneer on behalf of any
candidate.
����
(2)�� Any person providing
assistance in completing another voter�s mail-in ballot shall not assist more than
three qualified mail-in voters in an election, except that a person providing
assistance may assist up to five qualified mail-in voters in an election if
those mail-in voters are immediate family members residing in the same
household as the person providing assistance.
���� d. (1)� The sealed outer
envelope with the inner envelope and the ballot enclosed therein shall then
either be mailed to the county board of elections to which it is addressed or
delivered personally by the voter or a bearer designated by the voter to the
board.� To be counted, the ballot must be received by the board or its designee
before the time designated by R.S.19:15-2 or R.S.19:23-40 for the closing of
the polls, as may be appropriate, on the day of an election.
���� (2)�� Whenever a person
delivers a ballot to the county board, that person shall provide proof of the
person's identity in the form of a New Jersey driver's license, or another form
of identification issued or recognized as official by the federal government, the
State, or any of its subdivisions, providing the identification carries the
full address and signature of the person.� The person shall sign a record
maintained by the county of all mail-in ballots personally delivered to it.
���� (3)�� No person shall serve as
an authorized messenger or as a bearer for more than three qualified voters in
an election, but a person may serve as such for up to five qualified voters in
an election if those voters are immediate family members residing in the same
household as the messenger or bearer.� No person who is a candidate in the
election for which the voter requests a mail-in ballot shall be permitted to
serve as an authorized messenger or bearer.� The bearer, by signing the
certification provided for in section 12 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-12),
certifies that he or she received a mail-in ballot directly from the voter, and
no other person, and is authorized to deliver the ballot to the appropriate
board of election or designee on behalf of the voter.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.71, s.11)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill changes the
requirements for persons providing assistance to mail-in voters completing
mail-in ballots.� Under the bill, a person providing assistance in completing
another voters� mail-in ballot may not assist more than three qualified mail-in
voters in an election. The bill that provides that person providing assistance
may assist up to five qualified mail-in voters in an election if those voters
are immediate family members residing in the same household as the person
providing assistance.� This bill also requires a person providing assistance to
a qualified mail-in voter who is not a family member to be a registered voter
in the same county as the mail-in voter to whom the person is providing
assistance to.